Thitikul, Yamashita Headline Toto Japan Classic in Final Asia Stop
Jeeno Thitikul and Miyu Yamashita headline the field at the Toto Japan Classic, the final event of the LPGA’s four-stop fall Asia swing. Yamashita arrives…
Jeeno Thitikul and Miyu Yamashita headline the field at the Toto Japan Classic at Taiheiyo Club Minori Course, with the tournament marking the final stop of the LPGA’s four-event fall Asia swing. Their presence puts two of the tour’s leading players at the center of a 72-hole, no-cut event co-sanctioned by the LPGA and JLPGA.
Thitikul, ranked No. 2 in the world, has won four times this season. Yamashita enters after claiming her third LPGA victory of 2026 at last week’s Maybank Championship and currently ranks fourth in the world.
Yamashita leads the LPGA’s Vare Trophy race for low scoring. Nelly Korda and Haeran Ryu are ineligible for the award, according to the tournament information.
The stakes extend beyond the headline names. Japan’s recent run of success on the LPGA gives the co-sanctioned event a strong home contingent, while the no-cut format means every player in the field is scheduled to play all four rounds.
Shiho Kuwaki also returns to the LPGA this week after moving into the world’s top 10 for the first time. The reigning AIG Women’s British Open champion deferred LPGA membership until 2027 and has continued to compete on the JLPGA since her playoff win at Royal Lytham.
Kuwaki has won twice on the JLPGA since that major triumph, including a JLPGA major. She also recorded six top-three finishes across her next 10 starts after returning to the Japanese tour.
Japan’s LPGA results this season add context to the field. Four Japanese players have combined for six tour wins in 2026, with Yuri Yoshida, Yuna Nishimura and Kuwaki earning their first LPGA victories. Five different players from Japan won on the tour last year.
The success has also reached the sport’s biggest events: five different Japanese players have won majors over the past three seasons. Yamashita linked that form to the demands of golf courses in Japan.
“I think most of Japanese courses are very demanding, especially with narrow fairway, so you will be required to have a good ball-striking. That's why I think Japanese player perform really well in the U.S.,” Yamashita said.
Thitikul agreed that Japanese course setups test players, and praised their short games. “The short game is just amazing, and then I think that's why they can survive on the tour,” she said. Thitikul added that players can adapt whether a course is long or short.
Five past champions are also in the field: Nasa Hataoka, who won in 2025 and 2018; Rio Takeda, the 2024 champion; Ai Suzuki, who won in 2019; Mi Hyang Lee, the 2014 champion; and Jiyai Shin, who won in 2010 and 2008.
The tournament is a chance for the tour’s top contenders and Japan’s recent winners to compete on home soil. Kuwaki arrives after six top-three finishes in her next 10 JLPGA starts.
