ROGERS - Mika Miyazato watched Ai Miyazato make a 5-foot birdie putt on the final hole a year ago to win the LPGA Wal-Mart Northwest Arkansas Championship, and she knows for her to win her second LPGA Tour event she needs to be more consistent with the short stick.
A putter change in May at the Bahamas Classic has reshaped Mika Miyazato’s confidence on the green, anda bogey-free 65 on Friday at Pinnacle Country Club did nothing to diminish that as her accuracy with her irons led to short birdie opportunities in the opening round of the tournament, something she prepared for during practice on Thursday.
“I worked hard on short putts, like 3 feet, 6 feet, 9 feet,” said Miyazato, who finished second a year ago at Pinnacle and won the 2012 Safeway Classic. “I liked short putts, and the second shot, also. I’m not a long hitter, but I’m hitting pretty good second shots.”
The par-3 15th showed the confidence in Miyazato’s iron and putter play as she stuck an 8-iron close and then made the birdie putt. The birdie was her final one of a round in which she was 2 under after the front nine but jumped out on the back side with birdies on 10, 11 and 13.
Her playing partner, So Yeon Ryu, was pushing her right along. Ryu moved to 4 under after three consecutive birdies to begin the back nine, then finished with another birdie on 18 to get to 5 under and in a tie for second with Angela Stanford.
Ryu said the greens were so true she was able to trust her line.
“The course conditions are really, really great.” Ryu said.
World No. 2 Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) went on a back-nine birdie run in her afternoon round and finished at 4 under. Lewis shot an even-par 36 on the front nine after bogeying No. 9. She was at 1 under after a par on 14, then birdied three of the final four holes, making only a par at the short 17th when her putt from 16 feet slid by the hole.
“I got off to a little bit of a slow start, just wasn’t making any putts on the front and then kind of relaxed there on the back,” Lewis said. “You can shoot one or two under and still win the tournament. So you’ve just got to stay patient, make a few more putts than I did today, but I’m moving in the right direction.”
Lewis is tied for fourth with nine others, including world No. 3 Suzann Pettersen of Norway and Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Beatriz Recari.
Defending champion Ai Miyazato attributed a sluggish start Friday morning to lack of sleep. Starting on the back nine, Miyazato bogeyed Nos. 10, 11 and 12. She managed a birdie on No. 15, her fifth hole, before bogeying the short par-3 17th to go out at 3 over, and then made birdie on No. 7 to end her round with a 2-over 73.
“I didn’t have a good night’ssleep last night, so I didn’t have a strong focus this morning,” Miyazato said. “It’s very unusual not to have a good night’s sleep. Sometimes it happens.”
Inbee Park of South Korea finished with a 2-under 69 and is tied for 23rd. The world’s top player started with birdies on Nos. 10, 13 and 14, but she made bogey on 16 and double bogey on 2 to go to even par. Park, the winner of this year’s first two major championships, rallied to 2 under with birdies on the par-4 fourth and eighth.
Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) and Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) each shot 2-under par 69. Stupples, who started on No. 10, had it to 3 under after six holes, but birdies at Nos. 6 and 8 were sandwiched between a double bogey at No. 1 and a bogey at the ninth.
Stupples described her bogey on No. 10 as a “hiccup,”but said she was pleased with the three birdies she made on the course’s five par-three holes.
“I played the par-3s really well and that always lends to a good score,” said Stupples, who had a chance to birdie the 17th but her putt hit the right edge and she settled for par. “I didn’t play the par-5s great, but I am very happy.
“If I can make as many birdies as I made today, capitalize on the par-5s, don’t have anything out of bounds, then I am all good for tomorrow.”
Prammanasudh, who is in the process of moving to Tulsa while maintaining her tour schedule, had the putter working on the tricky Pinnacle greens, making consecutive birdies on the seventh and eighth, but a bogey on 13 left her even. She followed up a 15-foot birdie putt on 14 by making a 10-footer on 15 to get to 2 under.
“I can’t complain,” Prammanasudh said. “Being under par is always good. I hit a lot of good putts. They were on line. It was a matter of having the right speed.”
The two amateurs in the field, Lydia Ko and Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks), were at opposite ends of the spectrum. Ko, 16, finished at 2 under after birdies on 10 and 16.
Lopez started with two bogeys and a double bogey and struggled to a 8-over 79 in a round that included no birdies.
Cristie Kerr, the world’s No. 11 player, withdrew after eight holes because of illness.
Sports, Pages 19 on 06/22/2013