Mika Miyazato leads LPGA event by one shot
ROGERS, Ark. -- Mika Miyazato is in familiar territory after one round at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Miyazato, a runner-up at the 2012 NW Arkansas Championship, shot an opening-round 6-under-par 65 on Friday to take a one stroke lead at Pinnacle Country Club.
"I hit some pretty good shots," Miyazato said. "I was working hard on my short putts, like three feet, six feet and nine feet yesterday because I changed putters in the Bahamas last week. I used the mallet type and now I use the pin type putter and it's a real difference.
"So I practiced a lot (Thursday) and had so much confidence today."
Miyazato has one career victory, that coming at last year's Safeway Classic. Two months earlier, she had another great opportunity for her first professional win right here at Pinnacle Country Club.
In a battle with eventual champion Ai Miyazato - no relation to Mika - a missed 10-foot birdie putt on her final hole of the tournament prevented Mika from forcing a playoff at last year's NW Arkansas Championship.
"I was disappointed last year," Mika Miyazato said. "But I am a very good friends with Ai. She's like an older sister.
It was a good experience and Ai won and I finished second."
Miyazato's strong play at Pinnacle Country Club, which began with a third-place finish here in 2010, continued Friday with birdies on six of her last 12 holes. Her birdie run began at the par-5 seventh hole and continued with another birdie at the par-4 ninth to finish the front nine at 2-under 34.
Four more birdies on the back nine, at holes 10, 11, 13 and 15, moved Miyazato -- the No. 15-ranked player in the world -- to a one-stroke lead over So Yeon Ryu and Angela Stanford, a runner-up at the NW Arkansas Championship in 2009.
A crowded group of 10 players sit just two strokes behind at 4-under par. Suzann Pettersen, ranked No. 3 in the world and coming off a tie for third at the Wegmans LPGA Championship on June 6-9, shot 67 with five birdies and one bogey. Also among the players at 4-under after round one are tour rookie Chie Arimura, Mina Harigae, Christel Boeljon, Sarah Kemp, Lisa McCloskey, Beatriz Recari and Azahara Monoz, who tied for second at last year's NW Arkansas Championship with Mika Miyazato.
Local fan favorite and world No. 2-ranked player Stacy Lewis, who played in college at nearby University of Arkansas, is in the group at 4-under as well. Lewis, who drew her hometown "Woo Pig Sooie" Arkansas calls on the final two holes, used a strong finish to get near the top of the leaderboard, with birdies at holes 15, 16 and 18 to close out her first round.
"I got off to a little bit of a slow start," Lewis said. "Just wasn't really making any putts on the front and then kind of relaxed there on the back and made a few putts. I played solid. I was feeling good. Even when I was even par I was feeling good about my game.
"I'm just glad to get a few there so I can go out tomorrow and make a few more."
A total of 52 golfers in the field of 144 players finished under par Friday, with the majority of the top scores coming from the morning tee times. Among the afternoon pairings, Stanford posted the best score with a 66.
"I think I'm two shots off the lead, which the lead was shot this morning," Lewis said. "So I think it plays a little bit easier in the morning and that's what I'm looking forward to."
Ryu, No. 5 in the Rolex World Rankings, used a hot putter to stay within one shot of the lead. Despite hitting just 11 of 18 greens in regulation, the 22-year old South Korean took advantage of just 25 total putts on the day.
Stanford, who lost to Jiyai Shin in a playoff at the 2009 NW Arkansas Championship, was 3-under through seven holes. After a bogey at the par-4 12th, birdies followed at Nos. 14, 16 and 18 to get back to 5-under.
"Today seemed to be fairly consistent ball-striking wise," Stanford said. "Then putting was pretty good, too. I just seemed to have a lot of opportunities, so those are good days."
