The final stop on the LPGA’s four-week Asian swing sees Japan’s best and brightest pros enjoying playing in front of their own loyal fans. The leaderboard through 54 holes of the TOTO Japan Classic shows four native players at the top in this co-sanctioned event with the JLPGA Tour and eight Japanese players in the top 10 at the Taiheiyo Club.
Sharing the lead at 20 under par are Nasa Hataoka and Shiho Kuwaki. Hataoka, 24, is an LPGA veteran looking for her seventh LPGA career win but her first since 2022. She’s a past winner of this event, taking the title in 2018, and she leads the field this week in birdies with 23.
Meanwhile, Kuwaki is making the first start of her LPGA career. The 20-year-old has just one professional win to her credit (2021 JLPGA Rookies Championship Kaga Electronics Cup). A victory would allow her to earn full membership on the LPGA Tour is she chooses.
One stroke back is JLPGA veteran Mone Inami and two back is JLPGA rookie Sora Kamiya. Both players are non-LPGA members and would be allowed to join the American tour if they pulled out a victory on Sunday.
The overall purse in Japan is $2 million with the winner earning a first-place prize money payout of $300,000. Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer competing in Japan. We’ll update this list shortly after the end of the tournament with individual player names and paydays.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
