Nasa Hataoka Wins 2016 Japan Women’s Open

Nasa Hataoka (click to enlarge)

History was made at the 2016 Japan Women’s Open as 17-year old amateur Nasa Hataoka bested an elite field that included Major winners Jiyai Shin and In-Gee Chun finishing in the top 5 to take the title at the third Major of the JLPGA season. Hataoka used a 3-under 68 (par is 71 here) to move to 4-under overall, vaulting from tied for 5th at the start of the day to a 1 shot victory over Kotone Hori. Nasa also bested the feat of another big name in women’s golf as she became the youngest ever winner of the Japan Women’s Open, far surpassing the previous record of Ai Miyazato, who won the 2005 Japan Women’s Open at 20 years old. Mayumi Hirase, then 20 when she won the 1989 Lady Borden Cup (now the JLPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup), was the youngest Major winner in JLPGA history. Until now. No amateur had ever won a JLPGA Major. Again, until now.

Minori Nagano (click to enlarge)

As impressive as a 17-year old amateur in her third year of high school winning a JLPGA Major is, it could have been even more impressive had 15-year old first year high school student Minori Nagano taken the title. She slept on a 5-under 2 shot lead after round 3. Maybe it was too much pressure for the youngster. Sure, Hataoka is young as well, but at least she has the experience of winning back to back IMG Academy Junior World Championship titles last year and this year at Torrey Pines. Also, it’s probably easier for a teenage amateur to chase the lead rather than hold it overnight, dealing with the nerves and pressure, not to mention all the media attention. Ultimately, Nagano fell apart with a 7-over 78 to fall from 1st to a tie for 10th. She wasn’t even the 2nd leading amateur in the end as Yuna Nishimura slipped into a tie for 6th place. But a tie for 10th at a Major is fantastic for a 15-year old amateur. Hopefully, Nagano will use this experience to grow as a player.

 

ALL PICS CLICK TO ENLARGE

1 NASA HATAOKA (-4)

with 2015 winner In-Gee Chun

 

2 KOTONE HORI (-3)

 

3 JIYAI SHIN (-2)

 

T4 IN-GEE CHUN (-1)

 

T4 MEGUMI SHIMOKAWA (-1)

 

LEADERBOARD

RANK	PLAYER	SCORE	1R	2R	3R	4R	TOTAL	PRIZE
	優勝	@Nasa Hataoka	-4	70	72	70	68	280	¥0
	2	Kotone Hori	-3	70	67	73	71	281	¥28,000,000
	3	Jiyai Shin	-2	71	70	70	71	282	¥15,400,000
	4T	In-Gee Chun	-1	75	72	66	70	283	¥8,890,000
	4T	Megumi Shimokawa	-1	72	71	69	71	283	¥8,890,000
	6T	Ai Suzuki	0	69	72	73	70	284	¥5,390,000
	6T	@Yuna Nishimura	0	74	70	70	70	284	¥0
	6T	Ji-Hee Lee	0	72	69	71	72	284	¥5,390,000
	9	Mayu Hattori	+1	72	70	70	73	285	¥4,200,000
	10T	Serena Aoki	+2	71	73	72	70	286	¥2,957,500
	10T	Erika Kikuchi	+2	70	71	74	71	286	¥2,957,500
	10T	Na-Ri Lee	+2	73	73	68	72	286	¥2,957,500
	10T	Chie Arimura	+2	70	72	71	73	286	¥2,957,500
	10T	@Minori Nagano	+2	69	69	70	78	286	¥0
	15T	Hiromi Mogi	+3	74	68	73	72	287	¥1,817,200
	15T	Mi Hyang Lee	+3	74	70	71	72	287	¥1,817,200
	15T	Yuko Fukuda	+3	73	69	72	73	287	¥1,817,200
	15T	Akane Iijima	+3	76	69	67	75	287	¥1,817,200
	15T	Asuka Kashiwabara	+3	70	70	70	77	287	¥1,817,200
	20T	Ha-Neul Kim	+4	72	70	73	73	288	¥1,435,000
	20T	Saki Nagamine	+4	74	69	72	73	288	¥1,435,000
	22T	Misae Yanagisawa	+5	70	75	73	71	289	¥1,269,333
	22T	Haruka Morita	+5	68	76	73	72	289	¥1,269,333
	22T	Maiko Wakabayashi	+5	71	73	72	73	289	¥1,269,333
	25T	@Riri Sadoyama	+6	70	75	75	70	290	¥0
	25T	Misuzu Narita	+6	77	72	69	72	290	¥1,162,000
	25T	Megumi Kido	+6	70	74	73	73	290	¥1,162,000
	28T	@Ayaka Furue	+7	74	73	73	71	291	¥0
	28T	Shoko Sasaki	+7	74	74	71	72	291	¥1,064,000
	28T	Mika Miyazato	+7	74	71	73	73	291	¥1,064,000
	28T	Ritsuko Ryu	+7	69	73	75	74	291	¥1,064,000
	28T	Hee-Kyung Bae	+7	75	70	72	74	291	¥1,064,000
	28T	Junko Omote	+7	73	73	70	75	291	¥1,064,000
	34T	Teresa Lu	+8	75	71	74	72	292	¥952,000
	34T	Miki Uehara	+8	73	73	71	75	292	¥952,000
	34T	Kumiko Kaneda	+8	73	76	67	76	292	¥952,000
	37T	Tomoko Kanai	+9	76	73	73	71	293	¥889,000
	37T	Yukari Nishiyama	+9	73	73	74	73	293	¥889,000
	37T	Rie Tsuji	+9	72	76	72	73	293	¥889,000
	37T	@Rio Ishii	+9	74	75	70	74	293	¥0
	37T	@Sayaka Takahashi	+9	70	73	75	75	293	¥0
	37T	Ji-Woo Lee	+9	75	69	74	75	293	¥889,000
	43T	Shiho Oyama	+10	72	75	74	73	294	¥826,000
	43T	Kaori Ohe	+10	75	72	73	74	294	¥826,000
	43T	Hiroko Azuma	+10	74	72	73	75	294	¥826,000
	43T	Mi-Jeong Jeon	+10	72	75	71	76	294	¥826,000
	43T	Ayaka Matsumori	+10	72	72	68	82	294	¥826,000
	48	Shiho Toyonaga	+11	74	71	74	76	295	¥784,000
	49T	Eri Okayama	+13	73	74	77	73	297	¥756,000
	49T	Yasuko Satoh	+13	72	76	75	74	297	¥756,000
	49T	@Kokone Yoshimoto	+13	70	76	76	75	297	¥0
	49T	Soo-Yun Kang	+13	74	72	74	77	297	¥756,000
	53T	Erina Hara	+14	75	74	76	73	298	¥721,000
	53T	@Yuri Yoshida	+14	72	73	76	77	298	¥0
	53T	Haruhi Nakao	+14	71	74	75	78	298	¥721,000
	56T	Rui Kitada	+16	74	74	77	75	300	¥686,000
	56T	Eri Joma	+16	75	74	76	75	300	¥686,000
	56T	Miki Sakai	+16	75	73	76	76	300	¥686,000
	59	O Sattaya	+17	73	74	79	75	301	¥658,000
	60T	Yoko Maeda	+18	75	73	79	75	302	¥637,000
	60T	Ayaka Watanabe	+18	71	76	75	80	302	¥637,000
	62T	Ayano Yasuda	+19	72	76	81	74	303	¥609,000
	62T	Rumi Yoshiba	+19	73	76	80	74	303	¥609,000
	64	@Shina Kanazawa	+21	73	73	79	80	305	¥0

 

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