After the morning wave on Thursday of the 2026 CPKC Women’s Canadian Open, Japanese stars Miyu Yamashita and Nasa Hataoka are out in front of the field.
Yamashita got started quick going off on the back nine, making birdies on 11, 12, 14 and 15 to get to -4 through nine holes. On her second nine, she added four more birdies on holes one, three, six and nine to get to a wildly impressive -8 62.
Yamashita dominated in her usual fashion, with accurate hitting, great approach play and elite putting. Yamashita hit 15 greens and only needed 25 putts in her round. The No. 7 ranked player in the world is looking for her fourth-career LPGA Tour title and second this year. She quietly is the fifth ranked player in the Race to the CME Globe thanks to top-10 finishes in eight of her 16 starts.
Just one stroke back and in prime form is veteran Nasa Hataoka, who shot a -7 63 with a bogey on the final hole of the day.
Hataoka birdied her first two holes and shot -4 31 on her front nine, while adding four more birdies on the back with that bogey. Hataoka hit 16 greens for the day.
Hataoka is looking for her eighth LPGA Tour victory and her first this year. Hataoka has been fairly consistent but has just one top-five finish in 2026, back at the Fortinet Founders Cup in March.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda also went out in the morning wave and had a solid -3 67, but has work to do to catch up to the leader’s pace.
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