(Pebble Beach) Nasa Hataoka played the best round of the day despite tough conditions on Saturday as her 66-under 6 lead gave her a one-stroke lead at the U.S. Women’s Open .
Hataoka has avoided the bogeys and is just one round away from her first major title.
She’s lost twice in overtime at majors, including two years ago at the U.S. Women’s Open at the Olympic Club, also in California.
“It could be chance or maybe luck,” Hataoka said.
The 24-year-old Japanese was the only golfer to hand over a card under 70.
Allisen Corpuz completed her round in 71 shots and she is one stroke behind Hataoka, who finds herself at 7 under after 54 holes.
Corpuz spent most of the day in the lead, but she bunked her second shot on the 18th hole. She had to settle for a bogey.
She is looking for a first victory on the LPGA Tour.
Bailey Tardy, who had a two-stroke lead going into the day, scored 75 and slipped three strokes off the lead at 4 under. She tied for third with South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim ( 73).
“I was disappointed with a couple of my shots today,” Tardy said. But in general, I’m happy to still be in the race. ยป
Pebble Beach crowd favorite Rose Zhang was lucky enough to go three under par for her round but missed a four-foot putt for a birdie on the seventh hole. She settled for a score of 72 and is eight strokes behind the leader.
Canada’s Brooke Hendersen finished the day tied for 14th, having played a round of 73. For her part, her compatriot Monet Chun turned in a 76 and she is part of a group tied for 45th. .
