Nasa Hataoka. Photo from LPGA Twitter
Australia’s Minjee Lee fired a 63 — tied for the best round of the day Saturday — to join Japan’s Nasa Hataoka atop the leaderboard at 12-under par at the Northwest Arkansas Championship.
Neither player was part of the three-way tie for the lead after 18 holes at Pinnacle Country Club. Hataoka’s round was highlighted by another hole-in-one.
After a second round 65 that included her second ace of the week, @nasagolf7355 is tied for the lead in Arkansas.
Watch her Saturday highlights from the @NWAChampionship! 👇 pic.twitter.com/W8W5h3wD2j
— LPGA (@LPGA) September 26, 2021
The pair hold a one-shot lead over South Korea’s Eun-Hee Ji and a two-shot lead over South Korean Jeongeun Lee6 and Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand heading into Sunday’s final round.
Three players are tied for sixth at 9 under, three shots back.
Lee carded eight birdies on her way to a bogey-free round. Her 63 was matched by only Lee6.
Looking for her second Tour win of 2021, @minjeegolf shares the lead after a career low 63 on Saturday 👏
Watch her second round highlights! 👇 pic.twitter.com/08HkXiIRby
— LPGA (@LPGA) September 26, 2021
“Some of the holes I really hit it close to make birdie, and some of the holes I had a couple 15-, 20-footers, so good length birdie putts,” Lee said. “I just kind of kept riding my momentum until the 10th hole, and then string of pars and a birdie to finish. It was a pretty solid day.”
Hataoka shot a second consecutive 65, highlighted by an ace for the second consecutive day. Hataoka aced the par-3 sixth on Saturday after recording one on the 11th hole in Friday’s first round.
“It’s obviously something that’s not able to be done so easily, so I really, really feel proud of it,” Hataoka said of her aces on back-to-back days.
Fil-Japanese Yuka Saso fired 65 a day after shooting 69 for a share of ninth place at 8-under par with nine other players including Australia’s Katherine Kirk and South Korea’s A Lim Kim.
Kirk, Kim and Ji, who followed her 63 on Friday with a 68 on Saturday, were tied atop the leaderboard after the first round. But Kirk and Kim shot matching 71s to fall in the standings.