The LPGA Tour’s fall trip to Asia is finally coming to a close, and the TOTO Japan Classic will serve as a fitting finale for the four-tournament swing. A limited-field, no-cut, co-sanctioned event with the JLPGA, the TOTO Japan Classic has been a staple on Tour dating back to 1973 and has a laundry list of LPGA legends as past champions.
A Title to Remember
Last year, Gemma Dryburgh made her tournament debut at the TOTO Japan Classic, and by Sunday, she was standing in the winner’s circle, triumphantly hoisting her first LPGA trophy. The Scot had been lurking at the top of the leaderboard from the start, but two rounds of 65 on Saturday and Sunday boosted her to a four-stroke victory over Kana Nagai. The win punched her very first ticket to the prestigious CME Group Tour Championship and kept her out of Q-School for the first time since she joined the Tour in 2018. She hasn’t lost any momentum this season, and with two top 10s and three additional top-20 finishes, Dryburgh is hovering on the bubble to compete in her second CME Group Tour Championship. Her T6 result at the Maybank Championship last week pulled her up to No. 60 in the Race to the CME Globe, right on the number to qualify for the season finale. A successful title defense would secure a spot in the field at Tiburón Golf Club, but another top 10 would be more than enough to keep her in the running.
Others on the Bubble
The TOTO Japan Classic is one of just two events left on the schedule where players can qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship, and Dryburgh is far from the only player with their eyes glued to the Race to the CME Globe standings. Like Dryburgh, many hope to use this week to hold or improve their ranking. With her T3 finish last week, Jasmine Suwannapura jumped up 25 spots in the standings to find herself just inside the top 60 at No. 59. But she’ll need to keep up the good work if she wants to return to the CME Group Tour Championship after missing out last year. Currently sitting at No. 65 in the rankings, Lauren Coughlin is also looking to break into the top 60 this week. A T10 at the BMW Ladies Championship a couple of weeks ago helped her cause, but she’ll need another strong finish at Taiheiyo Club to punch her ticket. Major champion In Gee Chun is currently ranked No. 74 and will need to start making up ground this week if she wants to compete in the final tournament of the season. Since joining the Tour in 2016, Chun has only missed the CME Group Tour Championship once after failing to qualify in 2019.
Rose on the Rise
After her historic win in her professional debut at the Mizuho Americas Open, everyone had their eyes on Rose Zhang. And rightfully so, as the rookie claimed a victory and three top 10s in her first five starts on Tour, ultimately being all she needed to qualify for her first Solheim Cup in Andalucia, Spain. But since her T9 finish at the Amundi Evian Championship, Zhang had struggled to put herself in contention and did not crack the top 25. But it appears that all she needed was a little change in scenery. In just her 12th start on Tour, the Stanford University standout found herself within striking distance of her second professional win last week at the inaugural Maybank Championship, finishing T3 after holding the 54-hole lead for the second time in her young career. Zhang surely won’t let the momentum pass her by and is making the trip from Malaysia to Japan to compete in the TOTO Japan Classic. Though she’s done more than enough to impress in her rookie season, it’s hard not to hope Zhang will find that second win somewhere in the final three events of the season.
Japanese Connections
A co-sanctioned event with the JLPGA, the 78-player field at the TOTO Japan Classic consists of 43 LPGA Tour members and 35 JLPGA players. Though there will be many hometown heroes attracting throngs of fans, six LPGA Tour players will get to enjoy a special homecoming celebration when they tee off at Taiheiyo Club’s Minori Course. Ayaka Furue, Nasa Hataoka, Minami Katsu, Yuna Nishimura, Yuka Saso and Hinako Shibuno only get one opportunity a year to vie for an LPGA trophy in their home country, and all will be looking to put on a show this week. Though they haven’t been able to pull out a win, Saso and Furue have had very successful seasons so far, and both are tied for third on the Tour in top 10s with eight in 2023. Both also claim a runner-up result as their best finish of 2023, with Furue coming up just short at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, while Saso carded a valiant final-round 66 to challenge Ruoning Yin at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club. The last time Saso was in contention was at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, where she finished T5, and Furue’s most recent top 10 came just over a week ago at the BMW Ladies Championship, where she tied for 10th. Having kept themselves in contention for much of the season, both Furue and Saso are just inches away from a win in 2023, and a hometown crowd might be that something extra they’ve been looking for.
Asia Recap
It’s been an exciting three weeks in Asia, and a lot has happened while the Tour has been away from home. The Tour’s four-week stint on the continent began with the return of the Buick LPGA Shanghai after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Angel Yin took home the trophy, becoming the 12th Rolex First-Time Winner of the 2023 season, breaking the LPGA’s all-time record for most first-time winners in a single season. It’s hard to follow up such a historic performance, but Minjee Lee made it look easy with her second playoff victory in three starts at the BMW Ladies Championship in the Republic of Korea. And last week, the inaugural Maybank Championship made a show-stopping debut on Tour. It took nine extra holes – tying the record for second-longest playoff in Tour history – to determine a winner, but Celine Boutier finally came out victorious, earning her fourth win of the season over Atthaya Thitikul. The Frenchwoman is the first player to win four or more times in a single season since Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko both did so in 2021. The win gives Boutier a slim three-point lead in the Rolex Player of the Year competition over three-time 2023 champion Lilia Vu.
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