Suzuka Yamaguchi
Tokyo, Japan:
Suzuka Yamaguchi will once more step into centre stage when she tees-off in this week’s Faldo Series Asia Japan Championship.
At the ripe old age of 14, Yamaguchi shot to fame in June when she finished second in a sectional qualifier to book herself a starting spot in the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club, outside Philadelphia.
Acquitting herself admirably against the best female players in the world, the schoolgirl carded respectable rounds of 73 and 76. Although she missed the half-way cut, her performance earned her plenty of plaudits and admirers.
Buoyed by that experience, Yamaguchi has also enjoyed the distinction of making the cut in two Japan LPGA Tour events this year – the Japan Women’s Open Championship and the Resort Trust Ladies, where she tied for 24th.
While the Unomori Junior High golf team representative has her sights set on a future career among the professionals, her immediate aim is to live upto her billing as pre-tournament favourite in this week’s 54-hole tournament at Shizu Hills Country Club, an R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking [WAGR] event.
At stake for Yamaguchi, who turned 15 in August, and her rivals in the 140-plus strong field are a handful of places in the 10th anniversary Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, to be staged at Mission Hills China next March.
There, in the presence of six-time Major champion Faldo, Japanese players will aim to continue their proud recent record in the tournament.
With his triumph in the ninth Grand Final,
Yuki Kamasu followed in the footsteps of
Masamichi Ito and
Mikumu Horikawa to become the tournament’s third Japanese champion in the past four years.
Speaking ahead of the 16th leg of the record-breaking 2015-2016 Faldo Series Asia season, Faldo, Britain’s most successful golfer, said: “That Japanese players have won the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in three of the last four years clearly illustrates the exceptionally high standard of play among elite amateurs in the country – both boys and girls.
“The Japan Golf Association is continuing to play a major role in promoting the game among juniors and I thank them for their unstinting support to the Faldo Series Japan Championship.”
Supported by The R&A and Mission Hills and endorsed by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, the 2015-16 Faldo Series Asia campaign stretches over 11 months and boasts a minimum of 21 events in 17 countries including, for the first time, Australia.