Japan's Ai Miyazato finished in a four-way tie for 66th with a 2-under 211 total at the NW Arkansas Championship won by South Korea's So Yeon Ryu Sunday, but remained positive as she continues her search for a first major title.

Miyazato, who will retire at the end of this season, got off to a birdie start on the par-4 first at the Pinnacle Country Club but hope quickly turned into frustration when she barely missed an 11-foot birdie putt on the next green.

After tapping in her fifth for par on the second, Miyazato continued to struggle to find her rhythm. She found water with her second swing on No. 4 and could only scramble a double-bogey to drop back to 1-over on the day and even overall.

Miyazato, who finished the front nine 2-over after carding another bogey on the eighth, played better on the back nine, rolling in four birdies while only giving one shot back -- looking more like a former world No. 1 she is.

But two missed birdie opportunities from six feet on 16 and 17 showed she still needs time to adjust. The 32-year-old returned to the U.S. women's tour for the first time in nearly two months in Arkansas.

"I had a lot of chances but I couldn't improve my score," said Miyazato, who also said she struggled to read the grain of the greens which she said were very different to what she has been playing in Japan recently.

"It was a kind of tournament where I had to rely on my short putts to score well. It's encouraging that my short game has been so reliable. But I do need to work on my long putts. It was a learning week."

Miyazato will take confidence from her second-round 69 as she prepares for her next appearance at the season's second major, the Women's PGA Championship at Olympic Fields, Illinois, starting on June 29.