012라운드서 1타 차 선두 도약… 2연패 달성 눈앞
디펜딩 챔피언 하타오카 나사가 일본에서 펼쳐진 LPGA 투어 대회 2라운드에서 단독 선두로 나섰다.
하타오카는 경기 내내 안정적인 플레이를 펼친 끝에 2라운드를 1타 차 선두로 마치며 대회 2연패를 향한 순항을 이어갔다.
타이틀 방어에 나선 하타오카가 남은 라운드에서도 선두 자리를 끝까지 지켜내며 우승 트로피를 다시 품에 안을 수 있을지 관심이 쏠린다.
02Original (English) — LPGA
Nasa Hataoka of Japan celebrates the eagle on the 17th green during the second round of the TOTO Japan Classic 2026 at Taiheiyo Club Minori Course on November 6, 2026 in Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan.
OMITAMA, Japan (AP) — Defending champion Nasa Hataoka eagled the par-5 17th for a back-nine 30 and an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead Friday after two rounds of the LPGA Tour’s Toto Japan Classic.
Hataoka, who won in a playoff last year in a rain-shortened tournament, had a 36-hole total of 12-under 132 Friday.
Miyu Yamashita, who won last week’s Maybank Championship in Malaysia, pulled her tee shot on the 18th fairway which resulted in her only bogey of the day to shoot 67 and was in second place.
Ana Belac, who became the first Slovenian player on the LPGA Tour in 2021, was tied for third after a 65 with Fuka Suga (67), two strokes behind.
Hataoka, who has five top-10 finishes this season, grew up not far from the Taiheiyo Club Minori 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,” Hataoka said through an interpreter.
The Japan Classic is the last of four tournaments on the LPGA’s so-called late-season Asian swing.
Ruoning Yin made a four-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and won the LPGA Shanghai by one stroke on Oct. 18 to start the swing. In the second tournament a week later in South Korea, Yuri Yoshida won at Pine Beach Golf Links, her first LPGA Tour victory.