Stephanie Meadow was left counting the cost of four bogeys on her closing nine holes at the Toto Japan Classic which saw her sign off with a closing 73 as Mone Inami took her maiden LPGA Tour win.
Three birdies on her opening nine, including back-to-back on 17 and 18 – her eighth and ninth holes – saw her enter the closing stretch of the tournament at -10 and eyeing a push for the top 25, but bogeys at two, five, six and eight saw her fall back to -6 and pocket just over $4,300 for her week’s work.
At the business end of the leaderboard, hopes for a Japanese win were high as Mone Inami trailed Shiha Kuwaki and Nasa Hataoka by one heading into the final day but a three-under 69 was enough to see the third-placed Inami leapfrog her playing partners and take the title as Kuwaki carded a 71 and Hataoka stumbled to a 74.
As a 12-time Japan LPGA Tour winner, Inami knows how to get it done on the final day, but her 13th professional win was her first on the LPGA Tour regular and secured full playing rights for next season.
“I always aim to win at least one time per year,” Inami said afterwards. “However, I have struggled this year. I had a good start this year. However, from the middle of the season I am struggling not only with my golf but also with my body condition. It made me unable to play well.
“Also, I did not feel comfortable with my swing all year long and changed my swing 4 times. But, I got something good feeling with my swing this week, it worked well and I won this tournament.”
Korean Seon Woo Bae closed with a 67 to join Kuwaki in second place, one behind Inami, with Jiyai Shin and Xiyu Lin one further back at -20.
Defending champion Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland put up a stout defense of her title, firing her best round of the week on the final day and the 65 saw her climb into a tie for sixth.
With the end of this tournament, the LPGA Asian swing comes to a close and the field returns to the United States for the Annika Driven By Gainbridge in Florida where Leona Maguire returns to action and Meadow, currently ranked 69th, will have one last chance to play her way into the season-ending CME Globe Championship which sees the top-60 in the rankings compete for a $1 million first prize cheque.
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