CHICAGO (AFP) — Mao Saigo took aim at a second straight major title on Friday, firing a six-under-par 66 to grab a three-shot lead over a group including top-ranked Nelly Korda after two rounds of the US Women’s Open in Wisconsin.
Japan’s Saigo, who won a five-way playoff to lift her first major trophy at the Chevron Championship, shrugged off a spectacular piece of bad luck to build a 36-hole total of 136 at Erin Hills.
Korda posted a five-under-par 67 to headline a group of six players on 139.
Saigo, 23, last year’s LPGA Rookie of the Year, said her victory at the Chevron in April had given her new confidence but hadn’t changed her fundamental approach.
“I think that I was able to be more confident about my judgments that I make,” she said. “However, I would like to play my play rather than thinking about changing myself.”
She teed off on 10 and gained ground quickly with birdies at 11 and 12, but needed all of her mental poise after disappointment at the par-five 14th, where her third shot hit the flagstick and bounced back into a bunker.
Instead of a birdie she ended up with her only bogey of the day.
“I thought that was not my mistake, I just thought to myself that it was unlucky and then I just changed my mind,” added Saigo, who posted five more birdies, including three in a row at the 18th, first and second holes.
Saigo can expect a strong weekend challenge from Korda after the American posted her best round score ever at a US Open, a tournament in which her best finish was a tie for eighth in 2022.