OTSU, Japan (AP): Japanese golfers Nasa Hataoka and Miyu Yamashita each shot 7-under 65 on Thursday to stand atop the leaderboard after the first round of the LPGA's Toto Japan Classic.
Hataoka is looking for her seventh title on the LPGA Tour, and Yamashita is after her third and recently won the Maybank Championship title via a playoff in Kuala Lumpur during the weekend.
Shin Ji-yai of South Korea was a stroke off the lead, and three more Japanese - Chisato Iwai, Akie Iwai, and Minami Katsu - were just two shots behind at the Seta Golf Club in western Japan.
Chisato Iwai and Akie Iwai are twin sisters.
In a very tight field, eight other golfers were just three off the pace. This included Minjee Lee of Australia. Lee won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship earlier this year, her third major title.
Defending champion Rio Takeda shot a 1-over 73 and was eight strokes back.
For the record, despite playing her first full year on the LPGA Tour, Yamashita has enjoyed a superb season, which saw her rise steadily up the Rolex Rankings.
She began 2025 in 14th position and is now a lofty fourth, behind Thitikul, second-ranked Nelly Korda of the United States, and third-placed Minjee Lee of Australia.
Following a string of consistent performances, Yamashita broke through for her maiden LPGA victory and first Major title at the AIG Women’s Open in early August.
The Maybank Championship win made her the first rookie to win multiple times in a single season since Thitikul in 2022, and consolidated her lead in the 2025 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings.
The Toto Japan Classic at Seta Golf Course is the final stop of the LPGA Tour’s five-event late-season Asian swing.
The tour will then head back to the United States for the last two events of the 2025 season in Florida – The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican (Nov 13-16), and the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburón Golf Club (Nov 20-23). - AP
