Miyu Yamashita of Japan extended her lead to five shots at the CPKC Women’s Open on Friday in Edmonton.
Yamashita followed her opening-round 62 with a 6-under 64 and will enter the weekend at 14-under 126 at Royal Mayfair Golf Club. Her nearest competition comes from South Korea’s Soo Bin Joo (63), Japan’s Yuri Yoshida (66) and Kiara Romero (67) tied at 9 under.
Yamashita, 25, is searching for her fourth LPGA Tour title in a span of less than 13 months. After she took the 2025 AIG Women’s Open as a rookie, she has added two more victories, including the Meijer LPGA Classic this past June.
After a birdie-bogey start to her day, she piled up six birdies between Nos. 4-12 to race in front.
“Rather than focus on the score, I’m thinking about how I can make birdies,” Yamashita said afterward. “So I will try to keep a good rhythm in the final round.”
Joo’s bogey-free 63 was the round of the day. She hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation and needed just 26 putts to get around the course. But she is under no pretense that the tournament will remain a birdie fest.
“The sun is coming out, the winds are picking up this afternoon, so I think it will get firmer and faster during the weekend, and looking forward to it,” Joo said.
The story of the week may be Romero, a longtime amateur and college star who is making her professional debut. She started off with a bang on Thursday with a round of 64 and followed that in the second round with five birdies and two bogeys.
“Right now I’m just really focusing on having fun and just enjoying — I mean, it’s my first tournament as a professional, so I think it can be tough, the transition from college golf pro golf, so just to make it as little pressuring for me as possible,” Romero said. “I just want to go out there and just try to take this as a learning experience and try to just ground my feet out there.”
Ruoning Yin of China (67) and Nasa Hataoka of Japan (69) are tied for fifth at 8 under.
The low Canadian through two rounds is Anna Huang, who shot 68 Friday and is tied at 7 under alongside Laney Frye (67), Gina Kim (67), Malaysia’s Natasha Oon (65) and Mao Saigo of Japan (67). Defending champion Brooke M. Henderson of Canada is further behind at 5 under following a round of 68.
“It’s so amazing and such a cool opportunity to be able to play in front of all the Canadian fans. They just show me so much love and support year after year. … It only really happens once a year, and it’s just such a unique thing that not a lot of players get to experience. I’m definitely trying to make the most of it.”
