Defending champion Nasa Hataoka of Japan eagled the par-5 17th hole to seize a one-shot lead Friday after two rounds at the Toto Japan Classic.
Hataoka, who won in a playoff last year in a rain-shortened, 54-hole tournament, shot 30 on the back nine for an 8-under 64 on Friday at the Taiheiyo Club Minori Course in Omitama, Japan. She enters the weekend at 12-under 132.
“(The) weather is obviously change from yesterday so I played really well today, and especially iron shots were good,” Hataoka said through an interpreter. “So that kind of, you know, gave me a low score.”
Hataoka, 27, who is looking for her first win of the season, grew up not far from the course northeast of Tokyo.
“I don’t have a chance to play in front of so many Japanese fans, so I was really happy to be playing so well today,” she said.
Coming off last week’s successful title defense at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia, Japan’s Miyu Yamashita sits in second place at 11-under after carding a 67 on Friday. Her first bogey of the week at the par-4 18th hole cost her a share of the lead.
Slovenia’s Ana Belac (65 on Friday) and Japan’s Fuka Suga (67) are tied for third at 10-under.
Belac, a last-minute addition to the field this week, posted eight birdies over an 11-hole stretch before a bogey at the par-4 15th.
“I started the round pretty hot,” Belac said. “… I was like, oh, this is going to be fun today, because I just kept hitting it close and kind of blacked out.”
Sitting in a six-way tie for fifth place at 9-under are South Korea’s Youmin Hwang (67) and five Japanese golfers: Shuri Sakuma (65), Erika Hara (65), Yui Kawamoto (67), Sayaka Takahashi (69) and Aki Iwai (69). A dozen others are within six shots of Hataoka heading into Saturday.
Hara’s bogey-free round included three straight birdies at Nos. 10-12.
The LPGA Tour rookie said the crowd support gave her a boost.
“There are so many fans out here and they support me quite a lot so that helped me a lot,” Hara said. “They cheer me up when I made some birdie and when I made some bogey they support me … so that’s kind of helped me a lot.”