Mao Saigo grabs lead, Nelly Korda 3 back at U.S. Women's Open

Mao Saigo got her hands on her first major championship last month. After Friday's performance at the U.S. Women's Open, she is halfway to another.

Saigo fired a 6-under-par 66, the best round of the championship so far, and finished the day with a three-stroke lead at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis.

The native of Japan piled up seven birdies and made just one bogey on the USGA's difficult course setup to get to 8-under 136. Meanwhile, World No. 1 Nelly Korda moved into the picture by shooting a 67 to jump to 5 under.

Korda is tied for second with Sarah Schmelzel (68), Yealimi Noh (71), Sweden's Maja Stark (69), Japan's Hinako Shibuno (69) and A Lim Kim of South Korea (71).

Saigo won the Chevron Championship last month via a five-way playoff, the largest in women's major championship history. It was the 23-year-old's first LPGA win of any kind.

"I think that I was able to be more confident about my judgments that I make," Saigo said about what she gained from that experience. "However, I would like to play my play rather than thinking about changing myself."

Saigo led the field in putting, needing just 24 putts to get through 18 holes. The longest birdie putt she made was a 32-footer at the par-4 12th.

"Today's condition was better than yesterday," Saigo said. "That's why I made a lot better shots and a lot better putts than yesterday, and that brought me a better score and results."

Korda went from having just one birdie and one bogey on Thursday to a much more colorful card of seven birdies and two bogeys. She got a 26-footer to drop for birdie at the 12th hole, her third, and added a 19 1/2-footer at No. 17.

"All week I was hitting putts really well," Korda said. "I wasn't discouraged by all the missed putts or the close calls that I had yesterday. I just tried to build on that because I was hitting really good putts."

She said she will aim to stick to her process heading into the weekend, as she hunts for her first U.S. Women's Open and third major.

"I feel like I've had a very complicated relationship with U.S. Opens," Korda said. "But I'm happy to be in the position I am heading into the weekend."

A name to watch could be Schmelzel, a 31-year-old journeywoman who has yet to win on tour but tied for sixth at the Chevron.

Schmelzel made all five of her birdies Friday in a six-hole stretch at Nos. 11-16 before cooling off on the front nine, her second nine.

"It was really nice to get off to a good start," Schmelzel said. "I made a really good par on 10 and then after that I just was hitting it to 15, 10 feet and fortunate enough to make all of (the putts), which doesn't happen very often."

Dangerous weather in the area prompted a 54-minute suspension in the early evening, and several groups still had a few holes to finish.

The projected cut line was 1 over par. Defending champion Yuka Saso of Japan (2 over), Rose Zhang (2 over), Lexi Thompson (3 over) and World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand (3 over) were on the outside looking in.

--Field Level Media