The action has been stellar, and this week’s stop in Japan, the Mizuno Classic, will conclude the Asian portion of the tournament block. Two events in China and tournaments in Malaysia, Republic of Korea and Taiwan have preceded this week, and next week the Tour moves on to Mexico before the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla.
World No. 1 Inbee Park held off second-ranked Stacy Lewis by two strokes to win the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship Presented by Taiwan Mobile on Sunday, with No. 3 Lydia Ko finishing third. Lewis, who took a two-week break before last week’s event, is the only one of those three in this week’s field, and she will be looking to put a bit more room between herself and Park in the race for Rolex Player of the Year honors.
Lewis, the 2012 winner of that award, leads Park – the 2013 Rolex Player of the Year – by just 12 points heading into this week’s 54-hole event. Lewis won the Mizuno Classic in 2012, so she clearly feels comfortable playing in Japan and will be one of the players to beat beginning on Friday.
Another player to look out for is defending champion Teresa Lu, who ended an eight-year winless stretch as a pro with her two-stroke triumph over Chella Choi at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club. Both players are back for this year’s installment, and Lu is one of 34 players from the Japan LPGA who are teeing it up in Shima-Shi, Mie, this week.
The Mizuno Classic has one of the longest and richest tournament histories of any event on Tour, with LPGA stars traveling to Japan since 1976. Some of the greatest players in the game’s history have their names on the tournament’s championship trophy, including Hall of Famers Donna Caponi, Amy Alcott, Patty Sheehan, Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley, Betsy King and Karrie Webb.
No player, however, dominated the tournament like the great Annika Sorenstam, who emerged victorious five consecutive years from 2001-05. Recent two-time champions Momoko Ueda (2007, 2011) and Jiyai Shin (2008, 2010) are part of this week’s JLPGA contingent, and they are joined in the field by fellow former Mizuno Classic winner Webb, who took home the title in 2006.
Pressure is likely mounting on American players, as Park’s victory on Sunday extended the streak for international players to seven consecutive events. Austin Ernst, who is not playing this week, was the United States’ last tournament champion in Oregon in late August.
Those are just a few of the storylines awaiting golf fans this week, and there are likely to be more that develop over the course of the weekend. Can Lewis break through for her first victory since late June, or will a new player emerge on the scene to raise the hardware?
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