Amid Trumping LPGA Prodigy Rose Zhang, 21-Year-Old Japanese Pro Passionately Admits Her Global Ambitions

JLPGA’s TOTO Japan Classic has seen pretty close calls this season. This year, the greens are graced by some big LPGA and JLPGA names, and the players are giving each other a very hard neck-and-neck competition. 

Amid this tough gameplay, after surpassing LPGA biggies like Rose Zhang and Danielle Kang, a Japanese pro golfer has confessed to a secret related to her future ambitions and the ‘foreign players.’ Here’s the full story.

Japanese golf sensation’s future aspirations

The two-day game in Japan has been clean so far because of good weather conditions. Akie Iwai, the JLPGA player has secured herself a spot as the top player this season. She currently occupies the first position on the leaderboard with a -9 to par score, surpassing America’s Rose Zhang and Danielle Kang, who, after the first two rounds, sit at the T21 and T74 spots, respectively. 

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Prior to the third-day game, Akie Iwai sat for a Q&A session with the press and talked about her performance and what she looked forward to at the game. The 21-year-old was asked a question related to her fellow JLPGA player, Nasa Hataoka, about whether she had shared the greens with the player before. Iwai replied that she hasn’t, and playing on the greens with Hataoka and In Gee Chun makes her feel like she is playing in the US. The golfer confessed, “I wish I could talk with foreign players fluently.”

Following this, the player was asked if she wished to play in LPGA in the future, and to that, Iwai replied that she would, but that’s not her goal right now. The golfer added, “I just feel like it is too early for me to play in LPGA. But I want to be a player on the LPGA tour in the near future.”Iwai has shown some really good gameplay in her first two rounds on the greens. Here’s a quick glimpse at her performance on her home greens so far. 

Akie Iwai’s performance at the TOTO Japan Classic

Akie Iwai’s performance on the Japanese greens has been commendable so far. In the first round of the game on Wednesday, the golfer tied the tournament’s 18-hole scoring record with a 9-under 63. She started with birdies on her first three holes and then ended her day with three back-to-back birdies on holes 16, 17, and 18. 

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Her op players also showed some really challenging performances. Nasa Hataoka finished with three birdies as well. The player tied her second spot on the leaderboard with LPGA Tour rookie Yuna Nishimura and JLPGA player Mone Inami. 

The game end results are yet awaited. So, who wins the title and the fat purse is just a matter of a few days. Stay tuned to watch out. 

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