Fiery start up in Japan Women’s Open

MANILA, Philippines – Explosive would best describe the featured threesome of Yuka Saso, Sakura Koiwai and Ayaka Furue in Thursday’s start of the LPGA of Japan Tour second major championship — the Japan Women’s Open at The Classic Golf Club in Fukuoka Prefecture.

For one, they’re winners of four of JLPGA’s first six legs with rookie Saso, 19, nailing two. They occupy the top three spots in the current list of records that includes average stroke, birdie, per break rate, par save rate and average number of putts, among others. And they’re young and full of promise.

Sure a slew of seasoned campaigners are all going flat out to fuel their respective drive for the premier crown after the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Championship won by Saki Nagamine, including LPGA Tour stalwarts Momoko Ueda and Mamiko Higa.

Put in 16-time JLPGA winner Ai Suzuki, Earth Mondahmin Cup winner Ayaka Watanabe, former Japan Open titlists Mika Miyazato and Teresa Lu, and Eri Okayama, runner-up to LPGA-based Nasa Hataoka last year, and things just couldn’t get any exciting for those wanting to see who gets to wrest control early or who gets to pull off a last-minute charge that has marked a number of big-time championships.

Or Sunday’s winner could come from the lesser-light ranks in the 120-player cast.

That what makes the Y112.5 million event doubly interesting with the par-72 6761-yard The Classic Golf Club tipped to provide a true test of golf with its length, up-and-down terrain, thick roughs, hazards and bunkers that come into play in most holes and a sleek putting surface as its last line of defense.

The ICTSI-backed Saso, coming off her maiden triumph at NEC Karuizawa in Nagano, actually bested the 22-year-old Koiwai in their final round duel in the Nitori Ladies in Hokkaido last August but the latter redeemed herself by ruling the next tournament, the Golf5 Ladies in Gifu Prefecture, beating Furue and Watanabe by six.

The 20-year-old Furue, meanwhile, struck back in the last JLPGA event, the Descente Tokai Classic in Aichi Prefecture where she edged Hiroko Higashi in sudden death.

Nagamine, meanwhile, snared the Japan Ladies Pro Golf crown in Okayama for her first major with Saso, in the hunt in the first three days, cracking when it mattered most and limping with a closing 76. She ended up tied for 13th before rallying to finish joint eighth at Descante Tokai Classic before the tour took a much-deserved break.

Saso, Koiwai and Furue start at 11:19 a.m. on No. 1 while Nagamine launches her drive for a second straight major at 7:09 a.m. with Suzuki and Asuka Kashiwabara on No. 10.

Other top pairings include Watanabe, Ueda and Serena Aoki at 7:45 a.m. on No. 10; Higa, Erika Hara and Mao Saigo at 8:03 a.m., also at the backside; Miyazato, Suzuhide Matsuda and Arakaki Hina at 12:22 p.m. on No. 10; and Lu, Okayama and Erica Kikuchi at 8:12 a.m., also on No. 10.