Jiyai Shin (click to enlarge)
She was special when she was rewriting the LPGA of Korea (KLPGA) record book. She was special when she moved to the United States-based LPGA, winning double-digit tournaments. And make no mistake, South Korea’s Jiyai Shin is still special on the LPGA of Japan (JLPGA), a confirmed winner wherever she decides to tee it up. With her 12-under 3-shot win at the 2016 Nichirei Ladies, she pulls off the threepeat having won there in 2014 and 2015 to become the reigning 3-time defending champion in Chiba. I can’t lie though. I was rooting for JLPGA super-amateur Minami Katsu of Japan to win this. She opened with back to back 67s to go 10-under through 2 rounds and hold a 1-shot lead over Hee-Kyung Bae (and 2-shots over Jiyai Shin). But while Shin would go 4-under 68 in the final round, Katsu stumbled with a 1-over 73 to let victory slip away. Disaster struck when Minami bogeyed 5,6 7, and 9. It was a test of her great ability just to get it back to 1-over for the round on the back 9. Tearful in the trophy ceremony, she has to know she let one get away. But she’s a young amateur. It happens. Shin is the Final Round Queen. In time, Minami will learn how to close as well.
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1 JIYAI SHIN (-12)
with Bo-Mee Lee
with Rie Tsuji
with Minami Katsu
2 MINAMI KATSU (-9)
T3 BO-MEE LEE (-8)
T3 AYAKA WATANABE (-8)
T3 YUKARI NISHIYAMA (-8)
LEADERBOARD
| RANK | PLAYER | SCORE | 1R | 2R | 3R | TOTAL | PRIZE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 優勝 | Jiyai Shin | -12 | 67 | 69 | 68 | 204 | ¥14,400,000 | |
| 2 | @Minami Katsu | -9 | 67 | 67 | 73 | 207 | ¥0 | |
| 3T | Yukari Nishiyama | -8 | 71 | 71 | 66 | 208 | ¥5,813,333 | |
| 3T | Ayaka Watanabe | -8 | 69 | 70 | 69 | 208 | ¥5,813,333 | |
| 3T | Bo-Mee Lee | -8 | 69 | 68 | 71 | 208 | ¥5,813,333 | |
| 6 | Erika Kikuchi | -7 | 72 | 69 | 68 | 209 | ¥4,000,000 | |
| 7T | Momoko Ueda | -6 | 70 | 72 | 68 | 210 | ¥3,000,000 | |
| 7T | Ritsuko Ryu | -6 | 70 | 69 | 71 | 210 | ¥3,000,000 | |
| 9T | Yumiko Yoshida | -5 | 69 | 72 | 70 | 211 | ¥1,792,000 | |
| 9T | Shiho Toyonaga | -5 | 71 | 70 | 70 | 211 | ¥1,792,000 | |
| 9T | @Himawari Ogura | -5 | 70 | 73 | 68 | 211 | ¥0 | |
| 9T | Yuki Ichinose | -5 | 71 | 70 | 70 | 211 | ¥1,792,000 | |
| 9T | Soo-Yun Kang | -5 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 211 | ¥1,792,000 | |
| 9T | Lala Anai | -5 | 70 | 69 | 72 | 211 | ¥1,792,000 | |
| 15T | Teresa Lu | -4 | 72 | 70 | 70 | 212 | ¥1,200,000 | |
| 15T | Serena Aoki | -4 | 74 | 67 | 71 | 212 | ¥1,200,000 | |
| 15T | Na-Ri Lee | -4 | 72 | 68 | 72 | 212 | ¥1,200,000 | |
| 15T | Na-Ri Kim | -4 | 67 | 70 | 75 | 212 | ¥1,200,000 | |
| 15T | Hee-Kyung Bae | -4 | 70 | 65 | 77 | 212 | ¥1,200,000 | |
| 20T | Ayaka Matsumori | -3 | 69 | 72 | 72 | 213 | ¥880,000 | |
| 20T | Miho Mori | -3 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 213 | ¥880,000 | |
| 20T | Rie Tsuji | -3 | 68 | 70 | 75 | 213 | ¥880,000 | |
| 23T | Rikako Morita | -2 | 68 | 74 | 72 | 214 | ¥752,000 | |
| 23T | Kana Mikashima | -2 | 72 | 69 | 73 | 214 | ¥752,000 | |
| 23T | Saki Takeo | -2 | 68 | 72 | 74 | 214 | ¥752,000 | |
| 23T | Kyoko Furuya | -2 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 214 | ¥752,000 | |
| 23T | Mamiko Higa | -2 | 72 | 68 | 74 | 214 | ¥752,000 | |
| 28T | Erina Hara | -1 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 215 | ¥664,000 | |
| 28T | Mayu Hosaka | -1 | 73 | 69 | 73 | 215 | ¥664,000 | |
| 28T | Kaori Yamamoto | -1 | 70 | 71 | 74 | 215 | ¥664,000 | |
| 28T | Kumiko Kaneda | -1 | 72 | 72 | 71 | 215 | ¥664,000 | |
| 28T | Eriko Kobashi | -1 | 72 | 69 | 74 | 215 | ¥664,000 | |
| 28T | So-Young Kim | -1 | 68 | 71 | 76 | 215 | ¥664,000 | |
| 34T | Ha-Neul Kim | 0 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 216 | ¥568,000 | |
| 34T | Mayu Hamada | 0 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 216 | ¥568,000 | |
| 34T | Miki Sakai | 0 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 216 | ¥568,000 | |
| 34T | Kaori Aoyama | 0 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 216 | ¥568,000 | |
| 34T | Ai Suzuki | 0 | 68 | 71 | 77 | 216 | ¥568,000 | |
| 34T | Yukari Baba | 0 | 70 | 74 | 72 | 216 | ¥568,000 | |
| 40T | Mami Fukuda | +1 | 73 | 69 | 75 | 217 | ¥496,000 | |
| 40T | Megumi Kido | +1 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 217 | ¥496,000 | |
| 40T | Asuka Kashiwabara | +1 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 217 | ¥496,000 | |
| 43T | Asako Fujimoto | +2 | 72 | 71 | 75 | 218 | ¥432,000 | |
| 43T | Maiko Wakabayashi | +2 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 218 | ¥432,000 | |
| 43T | Yuko Saitoh | +2 | 69 | 71 | 78 | 218 | ¥432,000 | |
| 43T | Misae Yanagisawa | +2 | 74 | 70 | 74 | 218 | ¥432,000 | |
| 43T | @Ayana Kon | +2 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 218 | ¥0 | |
| 43T | Saiki Fujita | +2 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 218 | ¥432,000 | |
| 49T | Hiroko Azuma | +3 | 72 | 70 | 77 | 219 | ¥376,000 | |
| 49T | Hikari Kawamitsu | +3 | 71 | 73 | 75 | 219 | ¥376,000 | |
| 51T | Rumi Yoshiba | +5 | 72 | 72 | 77 | 221 | ¥336,000 | |
| 51T | Yoko Maeda | +5 | 72 | 72 | 77 | 221 | ¥336,000 | |
| 51T | Ayako Kimura | +5 | 71 | 73 | 77 | 221 | ¥336,000 |
