Ariya Jutanugarn (-6) and Soo-Yun Kang (-6) share the opening round lead at the 43rd playing of the TOTO Japan Classic held at Taiheiyo Club Minori Course in Ibarkabi. The 54-hole event brings a much cooler forecast as players will see a 30-40(f) degree temperature difference compared to the prior week in Malaysia.
With a clean scorecard through 16 holes Jutanugarn birdied the 17th and 18th to cap off a bogey-free 66 and join Kang at the top of the leaderboard. Jutanugarn struggled last week at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia with a T43 finish, her worst finish since a T44 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G on June 24th.
"Last week I was a little bit off with my tee shot." Jutanugarn said, "Today I just try to be a little bit more positive and not think about last week and try to have more fun today."
As the 2016 season nears the finish line Jutanugarn is battling Lydia Ko for several year-end awards but the 20-year-old from Thailand isn't letting that distract her from her game.
“Right now I am just trying to have fun and enjoy every shot I hit, that's all I want to do.” Jutanugarn said following her round.
Soo-Yun Kang sees herself in a great position with 36-holes remaining after an impressive opening round 66. Kang felt very comfortable on the greens and it showed in her putting as she only needed 22 putts.
"Today's round putting was great, I make every putt, I make 22 putts and make a great score." Kang said following her round.
Former world no. 1 Stacy Lewis and 2016 first-time winner Jenny Shin (Volunteers of America Texas Shootout) trail the leaders by 1-shot in a tie for 3rd place. Both Lewis and Shin carded 6 birdies and 1 bogey en-route to their opening round 65s.
Lewis, who is looking for her first win since the 2014 NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G, really enjoys playing in Japan and feels the course fits her game.
"I think you have to be a good ball striker to play well here." Lewis said following her round. "I just like being here. It’s one of my favorite countries that we visit. I think you just kind of come with good vibes."
Lewis feels refreshed and ready to finish out the season strong after taking a 5-week break following The Evian Championship.
"I didn’t play a lot this fall and only played two over in Asia. I just needed a break. It was like starting the year again. It was really nice coming back I felt like I could do some good things these last three weeks." Lewis said.
Sandra Gal (-4) and Ha Na Jang (-4) are currently tied for 5th and there is an 8-way tie for 7th place at 3-under par (Shanshan Feng, Kotone Hori, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Minjee Lee, So Yeon Ryu, Jiyai Shin, Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen).
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