SHIGA, JAPAN | From rookies to major champions to Olympic medalists to the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the volume of world-class Japanese players in contention every week in women’s golf is astounding. The TOTO Japan Classic promises to be a showcase for Japanese talent with a field full of the country’s rising stars.

The first Japanese player to hold Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 spot, Ai Miyazato, thinks the resurgence of talent in women’s golf is a result of Japan’s recent success across the highest levels of the game.

“Just like my generation was influenced by watching Annika and Lorena, many players from the current generation work hard towards achieving their goals with the global stage in mind,” Miyazato said ahead of the TOTO Japan Classic. “Hideki Matsuyama winning the Masters and Hinako Shibuno winning a major were also very impactful and set Japanese golf on a good course.”

Many of Japan’s young players are just a few steps behind Miyazato, a nine-time LPGA winner. With six wins and a world No. 9 ranking, Nasa Hataoka is writing her name in the annals of golf history and the 23-year-old still has plenty left to play. In some cases, the new crop of Japanese golfers has already eclipsed Miyazato’s accomplishments. Though Miyazato spent 11 weeks as world No. 1, she was unable to capture a major title, leaving that honor to Shibuno and Yuka Saso.

In 2019, Shibuno ended a 42-year drought and became the second Japanese player to win a major with her victory at the AIG Women’s British Open. She chose to forgo LPGA membership and joined the tour as a rookie this season. She has carded five top-10 finishes, her best result being runner up at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei.

Saso, who swings like Rory McIlroy and is closing in on superstardom, followed in Shibuno’s footsteps, winning the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at just 19-years-old and earning LPGA membership. Saso is currently No. 30 in the world with four top-10 finishes this season, including a runner-up at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship in October.

Even without groundbreaking major champions like Shibuno and Saso, Japanese golfers would still be some of the best talent in any field. Hataoka leads all of Japan’s rising stars with six wins on the LPGA Tour in just five seasons, her most recent victory coming at the 2022 DIO Implant LA Open. Ayaka Furue has also shone on the LPGA Tour, becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner in her rookie season at the 2022 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open. Miyazato credits Hataoka’s and Furue’s success on the LPGA Tour with sustaining the popularity of the sport in Japan.

“Golf has always been popular in Japan but seeing Nasa and Ayaka winning on the LPGA tour and Mone Inami winning the silver medal at the Olympics have contributed to maintaining the popularity,” said Miyazato.

Inami, who earned her silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a playoff win against LPGA legend Lydia Ko, is just one of many exciting prospects on the JLPGA. In her second season on Japan’s professional tour, 21-year-old Mao Saigo won five of her first 10 events with three additional top-10s to rise to No. 24 in the Rolex rankings – the highest rank of any current JLPGA player. Saigo played in the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship where she tied for third with a season-best 15-under 269.

Japanese golfers are also flourishing at the amateur level. In 2021 teenager Tsubasa Kajitani won the second playing of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in a playoff against Wake Forest All-American Emilia Migliaccio. And the current U.S. Women’s Amateur champion is a long-hitting 17-year-old from Tokyo named Saki Baba, who won the prestigious event by the largest margin since 1961. Baba is only the second Japanese player to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the first since 1985.

Though Miyazato’s career would be enough to inspire hordes of young girls, the legend takes no credit for the wave of new talent rising in Japan.

“I’m not sure if myself alone had an effect as there were multiple Japanese players when I was still on tour,” Miyazato said. “But I wouldn’t mind at all if young players think ‘If Ai Miyazato can do it, so can I!’”

Miyazato will always be an LPGA legend, but with so many strong Japanese players charging to the tops of leaderboards and feeding off each other’s successes, it’s only a matter of time before new records are set and more history is made.

Ai Miyazato on the Abundance of Japanese Talent in Women’s Golf

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