When Miyu Yamashita (Titleist Pro V1x ) won the Maybank Championship last weekend, she added to a marvelous weekend for Japanese sports.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series on the strength of pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who outshone teammate and fellow countryman, Shohei Ohtani. Earlier that day, Forever Young won the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the richest thoroughbred race in North America, becoming the first Japanese to win the historic race that began in 1984. Racecaller Larry Collmus captured the moment in the horse’s final steps to the wire when he said, “Celebrate Japan, they’ve won the Breeders Cup Classic.”
Yamashita’s victory is her second this season, following her victory in the AIG Women’s Open (British Open) in August. She is now third in points in the Race for the CME Globe, behind leader Jeeno Thitikul (Callaway Chrome Tour X) and Minjee Lee (Callaway Chrome Tour X). Yamashita’s fellow countrywoman Rio Takeda (Srixon Z-Star) is fourth. Japan has five players in the top-15, the others being Akie Iwai 11th (Srixon Z-Star), Mao Saigo 12th (Bridgestone Tour B XS) and Chisato Iwai 13th (Srixon Z Star).
There will be plenty of excitement for all the Japanese players this week in the TOTO Japan Classic. Team Japan placed fourth in the recent International Crown won by Australia.
Yamashita was the LPGA of Japan Tour Player of the Year and LPGA of Japan Tour leading money winner in 2022 and 2023. So much was expected out of her this season when she earned her LPGA Tour card for 2024 back in December and she has delivered.
It will be interesting to see how Yamashita does in the final three tournaments of the season. She has an outside chance to take a run at the 2025 LPGA Player of the Year honors. Thitikul, ranked number one in the world, is in position to win the award, based on her overall results, including nine top-five finishes in 19 starts, Yamashita is not that far off, with seven top-five finishes in 22 starts. Lee has one win, and five top-five finishes.
GOLF.com noted Thitikul leads the LPGA in several strokes gained categories: Justin Ray, who writes for The Athletic, said Thitikul leads in par 3 and par 4 scoring and is 0.01 strokes out of first in par 5 scoring. He added no player has finished an LPGA season leading par 3, par 4 and par 5 scoring since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.
So unlike last year when Nelly Korda (TaylorMade TP5x) was the obvious choice after winning seven times, this year there is the possibility it will come down to the end, though it’s clearly Thitikul’s to lose.
STUNNING LIV GOLF NEWS: LIV Golf has switched from a 54-hole tournament format to the standard 72-hole with a 36-hole cut to get Official World Golf Ranking for its players, which is critical for major championship eligibility.
It’s going to mean an added day of golf for the players, some of whom were quite content with 54 holes.
“By moving to 72 holes, LIV Golf is taking a proactive step to align with the historic format recognized globally,” Bryson DeChambeau (Titleist Pro V1x) said in a statement. “This is a fantastic evolution of the LIV Golf product, showing how our league listens and adapts to create the best possible experience.”
Apparently Jon Rahm (Callaway Chrome Tour X) had made his feelings known about the 54-hole format and other things he did not like.
Not sure it’s going to matter. LIV Golf reminds me of many startup leagues competing against proven leagues until the cash runs out, though the possibility of a merger is always there. LIV Golf only exists because its backers, Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, has the finances to offset losses. The Athletic recently reported LIV Golf has lost $1.4 billion since it began tournament play in 2022. The Athletic reported LIV lost $590.1 million in 2024.
I don’t see a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf anytime soon.
SETTING YOUR FEET: While watching Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher set his front foot four times before settling into his windup, I was reminded of Patrick Cantlay (Titleist Pro V1x). Cantlay takes forever to see his feet before putting, but it works for him.
A MOMENT REMEMBERED: Do you remember Bob May? Last weekend The Golf Channel revisited May’s playoff match against Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour BX) in the 2000 PGA Championship. Even though he wasn’t totally at his best, Woods still won. One Toronto sports broadcaster likened the Blue Jays and their epic World Series battle against the Dodgers to Woods and May. The Blue Jays were supposed to get swept by the Dodgers but pushed them to seven games and nearly won. Maybe it was a stretch to compare the plucky Blue Jays to May, whose runnerup finish was the highpoint of his career. But there was no shame to finishing second to Woods in a major.
Speaking of Woods, Bridgestone has hired Jeremy Galbreth as its new Vice President of Sales. He was formerly with Mizuno for almost 15 years.
