PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Neither the wind at Pebble Beach nor the stage of a U.S. Women’s Open could stop Nasa Hataoka, who delivered the best round in the toughest conditions Saturday for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead.

Hataoka not only posted the low score of the championship, she played bogey-free on a day when Pebble Beach dished out big numbers without much warning. Her 66 was nearly nine shots better than the field average.

More important, it left the 24-year-old from Japan one round away from her first major. Hataoka has lost playoffs at two majors, including two years ago to Yuka Saso at the U.S. Women’s Open up the California coast at Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Allisen Corpuz was right there with her until the end, when the Hawaii native missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 17th and then caught a plugged lie in the bunker that runs along the ocean wall on the 18th. She had to pitch out to the fairway and missed her 15-foot par putt.

Corpuz had a 71, making her one of 10 players who broke par Saturday, and will be in the final group with Hataoka on Sunday.

The first LPGA major in prime time brought sunny views of the most famous coastline course in America and a mixture of brilliance and blunders in wind that gusted over 20 mph.

Hataoka, six shots behind at the start of the round, began her move with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole. Turning back into the homeward holes into the wind, she holed a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 13th and drew her loudest cheer when her 40-foot chip from behind the 16th green broke hard to the right and dropped for birdie.

Her final birdie was a 12-footer on the par-3 17th. Hataoka was at 7-under 209.

Corpuz chipped in for birdie on the par-3 fifth, hit a beauty into the 10th for another birdie, and kept in front with a wedge that checked up just short of a back pin on the par-5 14th.

Bailey Tardy, the LPGA Tour rookie who had a two-shot lead at the start of the day, began to fall back as she turned into the wind and then lost her way on the 15th hole when she hit a clunky chip that ran through the green, chipped too strong coming back, and made double bogey.

Tardy shot 75 and was three shots behind at 4-under 212, along with Hyo Joo Kim (73). Jiyai Shin (70) and Hae Ran Ryu (73) were five behind. No one else was under par.

PGA: Brendon Todd scrambled for par on the par-4 18th to maintain a one-stroke lead in the John Deere Classic at Silvis, Illinois, holing a 12-foot putt after drawing an awkward stance near a fairway bunker.

Todd had a 5-under 66 in breezy conditions to reach 16-under 197 at TPC Deere Run. The three-time PGA Tour winner drove close to the left fairway bunker on 18, forcing him to hit with his left foot in grass and his right foot well below in the sand. He advanced it 65 yards to set up a 105-yard wedge.

“Kept me bogey-free and kept me in the lead,” Todd said. “You always want to be the guy being chased.”

Todd eagled the par-5 second, holing a 25-footer, and birdied Nos. 13, 15 and 16. The 37-year-old former Georgia player won the 2014 Byron Nelson and added victories in consecutive starts in November 2019 in Bermuda and Mexico.

“It’s just head down and make birdies,” Todd said. “It’s going to be hard to run away and hide here, but that’s the goal. Anybody who is within three shots of the lead is looking to go as low as they can. So. there’s certainly going to be no defense for me tomorrow. It’s going to be the same stuff.”

Alex Smalley (62), Denny McCarthy (66) and Adam Schenk (67) were tied for second.

“I feel like a veteran here,” Smalley said. “I’ve only had two years on tour, and this is my third year at this event, so it’s one of the few events where I feel like I know the course decently well. I feel comfortable here. I like the atmosphere of this tournament.”

McCarthy eagled the par-4 14th, hitting a 342-drive onto the green and making a 30-foot putt, then rebounded from a bogey on 16 with a birdie on 17.

“It was pretty gusty,” McCarthy said. “Hit a lot of really good shots early on, actually, and just didn’t really convert on some of the close-in putts, but then made a couple bombs to make up for it.”

Peter Kuest (65) was 14 under. Second-round leader Cameron Young (71) was another stroke back, along with first-round leader Jonas Blixt (65), Chris Kirk (66), J.T. Poston (65), Lucas Glover (66), Kevin Roy (68), Mark Hubbard (67) and William Mouw (68).

After birdieing Nos. 16 and 17, Young hit his 165-yard approach on 18 left into the water and closed with a double bogey.

LIV: British Open champion Cameron Smith overcame a pair of bogeys at the start to post a 4-under 67, giving him a three-shot lead at LIV Golf-London.

Thomas Pieters also regrouped after a rough start and matched Smith with a 67.  He was tied for second at 9 under with Marc Leishman (69) and Louis Oosthuizen (63).

EUROPEAN TOUR: Nacho Elvira double-bogeyed his last hole, reducing his lead to one shot over Robert MacIntyre going into the last round of the Made in HimmerLand tournament in Farso, Denmark.

Elvira was at 13 under after three rounds, one ahead of MacIntyre and two ahead Richie Ramsay.