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PORTHCAWL: Miyu Yamashita of Japan shot the round of the week so far, a 7-under-par 65, to jump out to a three-stroke lead at the AIG Women’s Open on Friday in Porthcawl, Wales.

Yamashita held third place after the first round at Royal Porthcawl and took control Friday with a bogey-free, seven-birdie round. She hit 13 of 14 fairways in regulation and had four of her birdies in a five-hole stretch from Nos. 9-13.

“Today was good overall, and my tee shots were very consistent, so I was able to hit from the fairway,” Yamashita said. “I played really consistent golf today.”

Yamashita is halfway home at 11-under 133, and her closest pursuer is countrywoman Rio Takeda — one of the first-round co-leaders — whose 69 brought her to 8 under par for the week. After them, no player is better than 4 under.

The four-way tie at 4 under features Lindy Duncan (70 Friday), Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck (71), Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand (69) and Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland (69).

None of the top six players on the leaderboard have won a major, so the door appears wide open for Yamashita, a 23-year-old whose 13 professional wins have come on the Japanese tour.

“I haven’t particularly worried about expected scores until now,” Yamashita said of the tournament to date. “I’m always thinking about competing for a high ranking in each tournament, and I just played with my day in mind. So I’m glad that my score and ranking worked out.”

Takeda, a two-time LPGA Tour winner, eagled the par-5 ninth hole Friday after making a double bogey there Thursday.

“My shots were a little crooked today, but I was playing, hoping I could correct that early,” Takeda said. “The eagle putt was close, so I’m glad I was able to get an eagle. I was able to play calmly today, and I hope to focus on my game and play calmly again tomorrow.”

English phenom Lottie Woad was having an impressive day through 15 holes before disaster struck on the par-4 16th. She lost her second shot in thick rough, and she couldn’t advance it on her third stroke before opting to take an unplayable lie penalty.

Woad was 5 under for her round and the tournament up until that hole, but the resultant triple bogey sent her backward. She finished with a 70 and sits at 2 under.

“I think it’s probably the toughest hole on the course,” Woad said. “The tee shot is hard to hit the fairway, and then you’ve got 3-wood into a very strong wind. Anything that’s missing the target is going to be exaggerated. So (I) pushed it and got a pretty unlucky lie.”

Woad, 21, won the Women’s Irish Open by six shots last month as an amateur, then turned pro and won last week’s Women’s Scottish Open in her professional debut.

Also part of a large tie at 2 under are World No. 1 Nelly Korda and Darcey Harry of Wales, each of whom shot an even-par 72. Harry is a member at Royal Porthcawl and is dealing with the nerves of performing for her home nation. She had five birdies on her card Friday, but one bogey and two doubles as well.

“I think I keep forgetting that this is actually my home course and I’ve played it before,” Harry said. “I have to keep reminding myself I know the course, so I don’t know why I’m stressing. Yeah, and just enjoy the atmosphere.”

At least Harry can say she has made the cut and has a faint chance on the weekend. Notable names to miss the cut of 2 over par included Allizen Corpuz (3 over), Canada’s Brooke M. Henderson (3 over), Rose Zhang (4 over), Jennifer Kupcho (6 over), Lilia Vu (7 over) and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko (7 over).

Japan’s Eri Okayama, who shared the lead with Takeda after Thursday’s opening round, followed a 67 with a 9-over 81 and missed the cut by two shots. Defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand made the cut on the number.

SINGAPORE: The gold medals were spread around on Friday at the swimming world championships, thanks to the absence of stars Léon Marchand of France and Canadian Summer McIntosh from any finals on Day 6 in Singapore.
Marchand, who has already broken the world record in the 200-meter individual medley, will try to break his own 400 IM record on Sunday, the final day.
McIntosh has won three individual gold medals already and will chase two more on Saturday and Sunday as she tries for five individual golds. Only Michael Phelps has managed that at the worlds.
The biggest race of the championships might be Saturday’s 800-meter freestyle with McIntosh and American Katie Ledecky – the world-record holder – the favorites.
The Netherlands, China, Hungary and the United States picked up individual golds Friday as the meet continues to spread them around. Britain also won its first gold and first medal in Singapore, taking the men’s 4x200 relay.
Through six days the United States and Australia top the gold-medal table with five each. The Americans have won 20 overall to 13 for Australia.
Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands powered through the last 50 meters to win the women’s 100-meter freestyle. Steenbergen won in 52.55 seconds, with silver for Mollie O’Callaghan (52.67) of Australia and bronze to Torri Huske (52.89) of the United States.
Steenbergen won this event at the 2024 worlds in Doha, but those championships were lightly attended. This race had a tough field. Both O’Callaghan and Huske are Olympic individual champions, but not in this event.
“It feels so crazy,” Steenbergen said. “In Doha, it was like, ‘OK, this is crazy to win.’ But in this field, I don’t know what to feel. I’m just so happy.”
It was the first gold medal for the Netherlands in Singapore.
Qin wins again
China’s Qin Haiyang, who holds the world record, won the men’s 200 breaststroke in 2:07.41 with second for Ippei Watanabe (2:07.70) of Japan and bronze to Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands (2:07.73). Haiyang also won the 100 breaststroke in Singapore.
Haiyang swam from Lane 8 and called winning from that far outside position “a miracle.” He set the world record two years ago in the worlds in Fukuoka, Japan (2:05.48).
Hubert Kós of Hungary repeated his gold medal from a year ago at the Paris Olympics, winning the men’s 200 backstroke in 1:53.19. Pieter Coetze of South Africa, who won the 100 back, took silver (1:53.36) with bronze for Yohann Ndoye-Brouard of France (1:54.62).
Kate Douglass delivers
American Kate Douglass got the US its fifth individual gold in these championships, taking the 200 breaststroke in 2:18.50, the second fastest in history. Evgeniia Chikunova of the Neutral Athletes was second (2:19.96). Kaylene Corbett of South Africa and Alina Zmushka of the Neutral Athletes tied for bronze (2:23.52).
The Americans have been slowed through the championships with dozens of members of the team having picked up “acute gastroenteritis” at a training camp in Thailand before arriving in Singapore. Head Coach Greg Meehan said the “overall majority” of the team had been affected.
In the men’s 4x200 freestyle relay, Britain won its first gold and first medal with a time of 6:59.84.
China took silver (7:00.91) with bronze for Australia (7:00.98). The United States was fourth in 7:01.24.
In Friday’s semifinals, Cameron McEvoy of Australia was fastest in the men’s 50 free (21.30) and Noè Ponti of Switzerland led qualifying in the men’s 100-meter butterfly in 50.18. Gretchen Walsh of the United States was quickest in the women’s 50 fly (25.09) and Peng Xuwei of China was quickest in the 200 backstroke (2:07.76).
12-year-old Yu gets a medal
Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi has won a bronze medal at the swim world championships, an astounding feat for a girl who would be a sixth- or seventh-grade student depending on the school system.
Yu earned the medal by swimming in the prelims of China’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay team. She did not swim in the final on Thursday — China placed third behind winning Australia and the United States — but gets a bronze medal as a team member.
She’s been close to winning an individual medal, placing fourth in both the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. She still has the 400 IM to swim.
Brent Nowicki, the executive director of World Aquatics, said the governing body would look at its age-limit rules. The limit is now 14, but athletes can reach the worlds if they surpass a tough time standard.
“I didn’t think I’d have this conversation, but now I think we have to go back and say is this appropriate?” he said this week in Singapore. “Is this really the right way to go forward and do we need to do other things? Put other guardrails up? Do we allow it under certain conditions? I don’t know the answer.”
He called Yu “great.” He also said officials had to be “careful” about the age issue.