NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Miyu Yamashita was back on top of an LPGA Tour leaderboard days after tying the tour’s 72-hole scoring record in a nine-stroke victory in Canada.
The diminutive Japanese star shot a 2-under 70 on Friday at TPC Boston for a share of the lead in the FM Championship with Hyo Joo Kim and U.S. Solheim Cup qualifier Allisen Corpuz.
Kim and Corpuz each shot 67 to join the 4-foot-11 Yamashita at 9-under 135.
Yamashita has four LPGA Tour titles, also winning the Meijer LPGA Classic in June in Michigan after taking the Women’s British Open in Wales and Maybank Championship in Malaysia last season as the rookie of the year. She has 13 Japan LPGA victories.
Kim also has two victories this season, the Founders Cup and Ford Championship.
“It’s been a while since my name has been on the leaderboard,” Kim said.
Morgane Metraux (65) and Ruoning Yin (65) and Jenny Bae (68) were a stroke behind the leaders. Nataliya Guseva (68) and Emily Kristine Pedersen (72) were 7 under.
First-round leader Sei Young Kim followed her opening 64 with a 74 to fall three strokes back.
Top-ranked Nelly Korda had her second straight 72 to make the cut on the number in the final event before the Solheim Cup matches in the Netherlands.
European captain Anna Nordqvist advanced to the weekend in her final event on the LPGA Tour. The Swede rebounded from an opening 74 with a 68.
“I couldn’t really sleep last night because it was so much emotions running through my head,” she said. “It was really tough yesterday afternoon with those gusty winds.”
Corpuz wrapped up the last automatic place on the U.S. team last week in Canada.
“I’ve been hitting the ball really well and putting myself in the right spots.” Corpuz said. “Even when I missed had a good look at a good up-and-down for par. I think this course is just one you just stay patient and you’ll get the opportunities as they come.”
The $4.4 million purse is the largest outside of the majors on the LPGA Tour.
See AP’s full golf coverage here
Miyu Yamashita, of Japan, hits her second shot on the 15th hole during the final round at the LPGA Canadian Women's Open golf tournament in Edmonton, Alberta, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno was sentenced Friday to 5 years in prison after a court found him guilty of accepting bribes from a Chinese company in exchange for helping it secure a contract to build a hydroelectric plant.
Moreno, who was present for the reading of the verdict, is 73 years old and has a physical disability that prevents him from walking. He will serve the sentence under house arrest.
Moreno was convicted as a direct participant in the bribery scheme during his tenure as vice president under Rafael Correa. His wife and daughter, two brothers and a brother-in-law were convicted as accomplices. The wife and daughter each received 30-month sentences. All were ordered to repay triple what they received illicitly within a period of 90 days.
Moreno is the third former Ecuadorian president to be sentenced for corruption, though he was tried for crimes before reaching the presidency.
Correa was sentenced in 2020 to eight years in prison in a bribery case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht but remains in Belgium, where he has lived for years. Former President Jamil Mahuad was also sentenced in 2014 to eight years for misuse of public funds. Another former president, Abdalá Bucaram, is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of organized crime.
Prosecutors said a corruption network operated from 2008 to 2018, collecting bribes equal to 4% of the value of the project carried out by Sinohydro. They said the money was distributed through domestic and international transactions to public officials and other beneficiaries, including Moreno.
Sinohydro began building the roughly $2 billion Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant in 2010 and handed it over to Ecuador in 2016. The project has since faced criticism over structural defects.
Moreno, a tourism entrepreneur, rose to national prominence in 2007 when he became vice president under Correa, who governed Ecuador for a decade. Moreno served until 2013, when Jorge Glas succeeded him.
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Ecuador's former President Lenin Moreno, who is charged with accepting bribes from Chinese company Sinohydro in connection with the construction of one of the country's hydroelectric power plants, arrives for a hearing accompanied by his wife, Rocio Gonzalez, at the National Court of Justice in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador's former President Lenin Moreno, who is charged with accepting bribes from Chinese company Sinohydro in connection with the construction of one of the country's hydroelectric power plants, attends a hearing accompanied by his wife, Rocio Gonzalez, center, at the National Court of Justice in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador's former President Lenin Moreno, who is charged with accepting bribes from Chinese company Sinohydro in connection with the construction of one of the country's hydroelectric power plants, attends a hearing at the National Court of Justice in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
