Chandni Canan BauerThe CPKC Women’s Open had barely got through its opening round before Miyu Yamashita supplied the sort of score that makes an old course look briefly underqualified for the job.
The world No. 7 produced a bogey-free, eight-under-par 62 at Royal Mayfair Golf Club, setting a new LPGA Tour scoring mark for the venue and taking a one-shot lead over Nasa Hataoka.
There are spectacular rounds built on outrageous recovery shots and spectacular rounds built on giving the course virtually nothing to work with. Yamashita chose the latter. Eight birdies, four on each nine, no bogeys and only 25 putts amounted to a career-low LPGA Tour round.
Quite tidy, really.
Yamashita rewrites the Royal Mayfair record
Yamashita’s 62 lowered the previous LPGA Tour best at Royal Mayfair by two shots. Kathleen Ekey, Caroline Hedwall and Lydia Ko had each recorded 64s there in 2013, with Ko going on to win the tournament.
There is one statistical distinction worth preserving: Yamashita has set the Royal Mayfair course mark for LPGA Tour competition, not the overall CPKC Women’s Open 18-hole scoring record. That remains Mao Saigo’s 61 from the third round in 2024.
Still, for a player making her first appearance in the event, 62 is a reasonably effective introduction.
It also came after Yamashita missed the cut at the AIG Women’s Open in her previous start, ending a run of 10 consecutive made cuts. Her assessment afterwards contained rather less drama than her scorecard.
“So it’s been a while since I finished the first round in good position, so I was able to make some putts as well. So I’m pretty happy with how I played.”
The putter certainly earned its supper. Yamashita’s 25 putts were the second fewest in the field.
Hataoka refuses to let the leader escape
A 62 usually buys a little breathing space. Nasa Hataoka declined to provide much.
Hataoka made eight birdies of her own, matching the highest total in the field, with a solitary bogey leaving her one shot behind after a seven-under opening round. She hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation and recorded her lowest score of the 2026 LPGA Tour season by two strokes.
Her explanation of the scoring conditions was admirably practical.
“No wind today and so many mosquitoes, and — but fairway was not firm and green’s really good shape so I could make so many birdie chances today.”
Golf analysis does occasionally become needlessly complicated. No wind, receptive fairways, good greens and an airborne insect population apparently operating without a cut line will do nicely.
Hataoka has never finished outside the top 40 at this tournament, with a best result of tied fifth in 2019. Her best finish this season is also tied fifth, at the Fortinet Founders Cup.
Romero begins professional life with a 64
Behind the Japanese pair came one of the day’s more intriguing performances.
Kiara Romero shot a bogey-free six-under 64 in her first round as a professional, only a week after earning her LPGA Tour card through LEAP. Six birdies and 27 putts would have constituted an excellent start under any circumstances. Doing it while formally beginning a professional career adds a little more voltage.
Romero also averaged 300 yards off the tee, the second-longest driving distance in the field.
“I’m really happy about it. I think I honestly came out here today just like with one goal: To just go out there and have fun and just play with as little pressure as possible, and that’s exactly what I did.”
She already knew her way around LPGA Tour golf, having played 10 events as an amateur. Her previous low round was also a 64, recorded in the final round of the 2025 The Standard Portland Classic.
She finished tied sixth at the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open and tied 36th at this tournament last year. The difference now is small on paper and enormous everywhere else: the scorecard finally has “professional” attached to it.
Yamashita’s form makes the 62 less surprising
The size of Yamashita’s opening statement should not obscure the broader evidence.
She entered the week fifth in the 2026 Race to the CME Globe, with one victory and eight top-10 finishes this season. Across 16 starts she had made 14 cuts, won the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and accumulated $1.9 million in official season earnings.
Her career already includes three LPGA Tour victories, 20 official top-10 finishes and $5.5 million in official earnings. She won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open for her first major title and was the 2025 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year.
In other words, Royal Mayfair has not suddenly uncovered an unknown quantity. It has simply seen a very good player produce her sharpest LPGA Tour round yet.
One round down, very little settled
This is the third occasion on which Yamashita has led or shared the lead after an opening round, following the 2026 Aramco Championship and 2025 TOTO Japan Classic.
The encouraging part for everyone chasing her is obvious: it is Thursday’s work, not Sunday’s trophy presentation.
The less encouraging part is that a player already ranked seventh in the world has opened with eight birdies, no bogeys and a putter requiring only 25 strokes.
Royal Mayfair now has a new number to beat. The rest of the field has a rather more immediate problem: the woman who wrote it down.
