BELLEAIR, Fla. - Chizzy Iwai got off to a blistering start to the opening round of The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. When she was asked after her round if she knew that she had made five consecutive birdies on her front nine at Pelican Golf Club, she was well aware. And knew exactly what was behind her stellar start.

It was a change that Iwai had made in her golf course strategy.

During last week’s TOTO Japan Classic while Iwai was competing in her native Japan, she says that she noticed that many of her compatriots, members of the JLPGA who were in the field, were playing far more aggressively. It made Iwai take note of her own strategy on the golf course which led to an immediate change in approach while playing in Japan where she settled for a tie for 46th.

Again this week at the final event of the regular season, Iwai says she has continued that attack strategy. Iwai said she had fun riding her new swing thought the top of the leaderboard on Thursday by carding a front nine 29, punctuated by those five consecutive birdies on holes Nos. 3-7. But Iwai cooled on the back nine, and suffered back-to-back bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes. She managed to rebound with a birdie at the par four, 17th for a round of 65.

“That was great. Feels so good,” Iwai said with a laugh about her run of birdies on Thursday. “I think green is still soft. That's why keep aggressive, keep pin high shot.”

The change in strategy wasn’t the only thing that Iwai took away from her trip to Japan. The opportunity to connect with friends and family no doubt buoyed the second year member who says she had no time to rest during the trip home, but instead she filled the time by reconnecting with friends and family who she doesn’t get to see while traveling the world with the LPGA Tour.

“Just eating good food and meet my friends,” Iwai said about her time in Japan. “That was great.”

Iwai’s round on Thursday was her lowest round on the LPGA Tour since April and a bright spot in what has otherwise been a challenging second half of the season. Iwai won in 2025 during her rookie season on the LPGA Tour and looked poised to continue that success in 2026 as she began the year with four top 10s in her first seven starts. But then, Iwai began to struggle with her putting. Ranked inside the top 10 on Tour in 2025, she’s dropped outside the top 20 on Tour in 2026. Iwai has recorded just a single top 10 finish on Tour since June, when she partnered with her sister, Akie, at the Dow Championship.

But Iwai looks well positioned for another top finish, or even her first win of the season, if she can continue the same sort of aggressive approach that lifted her to the top of the leaderboard on day one at Pelican Golf Club.

Chizzy Iwai Implements Aggressive Strategy, Shoots 65

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