|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 22, 2021 2:17:40 GMT
Starting Thursday, the longest season ever (52 events) wraps up with a Major for a field of 40 at the balmy climes of Miyazaki CC. Sakura Koiwai and Miki Sakai will be the only two players to play all 52 events. For Saku-chan, that will be 129 straight events since becoming a big tour regular in 2018.
Sunday's broadcast will be LIVE here (Japan time) -
1:30 PM thru 2:55 PM
********
Other channels will have all four days, plus official Internet distribution (probably geo-blocked) ... try this YT search -
JLPGAツアーチャンピオンシップリコーカップ
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 23, 2021 11:06:26 GMT
Erika Hara (defending champ) was greeted at Miyazaki Airport on Monday by the Miyazaki City Tourism Association.
*****
Tuesday practice -
Ayaka Furue
Mone Inami and Eight Head
Pei Ying Tsai and Erika Hara
Miyuu Yamashita and Eri Okayama
|
|
|
|
Post by SoYeonFan on Nov 23, 2021 18:11:55 GMT
Good to see Kotone Hori in the field this year.
Yui Kawamoto needs to refocus and play a lot better 2022 Season.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 24, 2021 10:59:00 GMT
Wednesday practice -
Furue and Iname will be in the last pairing on Thursday ... Furue can still overtake Iname for the Points and Money titles.
Erika Hara and Sakura Koiwai ... the mornings are cold, but the forecast for the first two rounds is high temps in the mid-60s F
  |
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 25, 2021 1:05:18 GMT
They are off and running after 90 minutes ... Kotone Hori tied for 2nd at -2 thru five holes ... I looked up her 2021 WITB and she is partially Bridgestone, as you can see below ... also carries two 2012 TourStage X-Drive GR hybrids (23 & 25 deg.), WTH! Oh, and she has two Jucie wedges (51 & 58) ... I had to do a search on GolfWrx to find that one ... ridiculously expensive heads, but she doesn't have to worry about that:
... and how about Eight Head who is in 1st place at -3 thru seven holes ... and that includes a bogey on the par-5 2nd hole.   |
|
|
|
Post by jlpgafan on Nov 25, 2021 4:29:54 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 25, 2021 11:02:59 GMT
I don't have time this AM to watch one of the longer rogue videos ... but this 4 1/2 minute Furue highlight reel from the official JLPGA YouTube channel was sufficient:
POS PLAYER SCORE HOLE TODAY 1R 2R 3R 4R TOTAL
1 Ayaka Furue -8 F -8 64 64
2 Mi-Jeong Jeon -5 F -5 67 67
3T Mao Nozawa -4 F -4 68 68
3T Sayaka Takahashi -4 F -4 68 68
5T Kotone Hori -3 F -3 69 69
5T Shina Kanazawa -3 F -3 69 69
5T Kana Mikashima -3 F -3 69 69
5T Momoko Ueda -3 F -3 69 69
9T Teresa Lu -2 F -2 70 70
9T Saiki Fujita -2 F -2 70 70
9T Seonwoo Bae -2 F -2 70 70
Ayaka Furue tied the course record, so I assume she doesn't get the one million Yen bonus ... but there are three more days. The best part of her 64 was that Mone Inami had to watch all 18 holes of it ... and she shot 74. Furue needs a 1st or 2nd place to have any chance of yanking the Points and Money titles away from Inami.
SW Bae 
I'm old, but I'm cool ... Saiki Fujita
Saku-chan (E)
Sayaka Takahashi
Mi Jeong Jeon is pushing 40, but has no use for forgiving irons   |
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 26, 2021 12:07:14 GMT
Second round highlights in four minutes ... odd reactions by Kana Mikashima after jarring her 3rd shot at the par-5 9th (begins at 2:22) ... Kotone Hori chip-in birdie at par-4 18th starts at 3:29 ... Ayaka Furue didn't make the video until the 3:45 mark:
POS PLAYER SCORE HOLE TODAY 1R 2R 3R 4R TOTAL
1 Ayaka Furue -7 F +1 64 73 137
2 Kotone Hori -6 F -3 69 69 138
3T Mao Nozawa -5 F -1 68 71 139
3T Mamiko Higa -5 F -4 71 68 139
3T Momoko Ueda -5 F -2 69 70 139
6T Mi-Jeong Jeon -4 F +1 67 73 140
6T Mao Saigo -4 F -3 71 69 140
6T Kana Mikashima -4 F -1 69 71 140
9 Eri Okayama -3 F -3 72 69 141
10T Lala Anai -2 F -4 74 68 142
10T Yuna Nishimura -2 F -3 73 69 142
10T Sakura Koiwai -2 F -2 72 70 142
10T Seonwoo Bae -2 F 0 70 72 142
Hori #2 at #18
Ayaka Furue let everyone back in the tournament with three bogeys in her first seven holes ... probably just a temporary reprieve.
Ritsuko Ryu (+6)
Mone Inami (+2) still in danger of throwing away year-end hardware
Ayako Kimura (+7) ... looks like Kobayashi in the background.
Min Young Lee (+5)
Pei Ying Tsai (+2)
Mamiko Higa has come out of hiding this week ... has eight trunk slams in her last thirteen starts with no finish better than T-34.
 |
|
|
|
Post by SoYeonFan on Nov 26, 2021 16:06:53 GMT
Kotone Hori had a good front nine, but only one birdie and a bogey back nine.
In second place she can spoil Ayaka Furue party with great rounds on the weekend.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 27, 2021 1:55:08 GMT
As you can see below, they're next to the airport. I'm wondering what kind of itinerary Ayaka Furue has in place following this tournament ... I assume it will be hairy as tourist traffic between Miyazaki Japan and Mobile AL is probably non-existent! I poked around Google Travel/Flights and discovered that Miyazaki is too minor league to have a DIRECT flight to LAX ... you have to go through Tokyo first. You can get from LAX to Mobile's regional airport via one stop in DFW. I don't know what chartered flights cost, but they might be a worthwhile alternative ... she has made a ton of money and first prize this week is about $265K USD.
MIYAZAKI, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 27: Ayaka Watanabe of Japan hits her second shot on the 2nd hole during the third round of the JLPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup at the Miyazaki Country Club on November 27, 2021 in Miyazaki, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
|
|
|
|
Post by SoYeonFan on Nov 27, 2021 2:53:02 GMT
Kotone Hori slow start with a bogey and a double bogey the first five holes.
Still only three out of the lead, time to rally.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 27, 2021 12:59:43 GMT
Kotone Hori slow start with a bogey and a double bogey the first five holes. Still only three out of the lead, time to rally.
Her stinking bogey at the par-5 11th (485 yards) is on this video at 0:07 thru 8:01 -
Sits at -1 after a 77.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 27, 2021 13:23:56 GMT
Well, this is getting interesting ... Furue is jammed in with players who have never won before on Japan's big tour (Mikashima, Takahashi, Saigo, Nozawa). Inami moved up to T-15 with a 69.
POS PLAYER SCORE HOLE TODAY 1R 2R 3R 4R TOTAL
1 Kana Mikashima -9 F -5 69 71 67 207
2 Ayaka Furue -6 F +1 64 73 73 210
3T Sayaka Takahashi -5 F -4 68 75 68 211
3T Sakura Koiwai -5 F -3 72 70 69 211
3T Lala Anai -5 F -3 74 68 69 211
3T Mao Saigo -5 F -1 71 69 71 211
7T Erika Hara -4 F -3 74 69 69 212
7T Mao Nozawa -4 F +1 68 71 73 212
7T Mamiko Higa -4 F +1 71 68 73 212
10T Jiyai Shin -3 F -2 71 72 70 213
10T Eri Okayama -3 F 0 72 69 72 213
The Shinster and Teresa Lu (+1)
Minami Katsu (+2)
Yuri Yoshida (+1)
Haruka Morita (+2)
Momoko Osato (+4)
Swinging lefty might be an improvement for Erika Kikuchi (+9) ... Google mush was of no help in fully deciphering the sweater of Miki Sakai (+2)
|
|
|
|
Post by SoYeonFan on Nov 27, 2021 19:38:15 GMT
Rough day at the office for Kotone Hori five over for the round.
After going four over par, she made birdie on nine and ten to get to two over.
But she then made a bogey on eleven and a double on eighteen.
Still one under par and tied for fifteen which isn't too bad for the Tournament.
|
|
|
|
Post by philknj on Nov 28, 2021 11:49:58 GMT
I must have slept through my alarm, but I got up in time to watch the last hole live ... the win was already in the bag for Kana Mikashima.
POS PLAYER SCORE 1R 2R 3R 4R TOTAL PRIZE
1 Kana Mikashima -11 69 71 67 70 277 ¥30,000,000
2 Sakura Koiwai -7 72 70 69 70 281 ¥18,000,000
3T Jiyai Shin -6 71 72 70 69 282 ¥10,200,000
3T Ayaka Furue -6 64 73 73 72 282 ¥10,200,000
5 Sayaka Takahashi -3 68 75 68 74 285 ¥6,600,000
6T Seonwoo Bae -2 70 72 72 72 286 ¥4,860,000
6T Mao Saigo -2 71 69 71 75 286 ¥4,860,000
8 Kotone Hori -1 69 69 77 72 287 ¥3,360,000
9T Yuna Nishimura 0 73 69 73 73 288 ¥1,680,000
9T Mone Inami 0 74 72 69 73 288 ¥1,680,000
9T Shina Kanazawa 0 69 77 68 74 288 ¥1,680,000
9T Mamiko Higa 0 71 68 73 76 288 ¥1,680,000
9T Lala Anai 0 74 68 69 77 288 ¥1,680,000
Her coach is Sho Aoki (left), who also has Shibuno Fever ... daddy is on the right.
I think the Stat Race, which was split, received more buzz than the tournament winner -
Mone Inami topped the Prize Money and Ayaka Furue topped the Mercedes Points
Only five players broke par on Sunday
Saki Nagamine (+19, DFL) ... who is Japan's Man Bun these days?
Yuri Yoshida (+1) and Chae Young Yoon (+2)
Sumika Nakasone (+7)
Sakura Koiwai and Sayaka Takahashi
Saiki Fujita (+6)
|
|
