Three Japanese golfers opened the 2026 TOTO Japan Classic tied at the top, and the LPGA Tour's defending champion sits two shots back in a crowded chase pack.
Sayaka Takahashi, Aki Iwai and Miyu Yamashita each shot 6 under par 66 on Thursday to share the first round lead at the TOTO Japan Classic, according to the LPGA's tournament leaderboard. All three players are from Japan. The 2026 event runs November 5 to 8 at the Taiheiyo Club Minori Course in Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan, a par-72 layout playing to roughly 6,600 yards (6,035m), with a $2.1 million purse (LPGA.com overview; Golf News Net field preview).
Iwai's lead comes in a strong season. She's a six-time winner on the JLPGA Tour who joined the LPGA Tour through 2024 Q-Series qualifying, and she won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in late September, part of a run that also includes a solo third at the Evian Championship in July, according to LPGA.com. Her twin sister, Chisato Iwai, is also in the field this week and opened with a 2 under 70, good for a tie for 26th, per the same source.
Fuka Suga, Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand and Minami Hiruta are tied for fourth at 5 under 67, one stroke off the pace, a score confirmed by both the LPGA leaderboard and an Associated Press report on the round.
Nasa Hataoka opened her title defense with a 4 under 68, tying for seventh and sitting two shots off the lead alongside eight other players, according to the Associated Press, a score that matches the LPGA.com leaderboard. She's back to defend a title that came the hard way. Last year's final round was washed out by all-day rain, and Hataoka won the tournament in a playoff after what LPGA.com called "unplayable course conditions."
Yamashita's share of the lead continues a strong run. She defended her Maybank Championship title last week, closing with a final-round 68 to finish at 22 under par and win by two strokes over Yan Liu. Earlier in the year she won the Meijer LPGA Classic and the CPKC Women's Open, according to LPGA.com. She has five career LPGA Tour wins in all, including the 2025 AIG Women's Open, her lone major title to date, per the same source. Yamashita finished solo third at last year's TOTO Japan Classic at 14 under par, according to LPGA.com, and the 2025 LPGA Rookie of the Year heads into this week in form.
A few sourced storylines carry into Friday. Yamashita is trying to win back-to-back LPGA starts, coming off the Maybank Championship title and now sharing the Round 1 lead in Japan, as the Associated Press noted in its Round 1 report. Hataoka is chasing a successful title defense from two shots back. And both Iwai sisters are in the field together, with Aki in the share of the lead and Chisato four strokes behind her in a tie for 26th, according to LPGA.com.
The TOTO Japan Classic is a 72-hole event, with Round 2 set for Friday and the tournament finishing Sunday. It's the last of four tournaments in the LPGA's late-season Asian swing, according to the Associated Press. Monday's open qualifying helped fill out a field that also includes Jeeno Thitikul, Hannah Green, Jin Young Ko, Hyo Joo Kim and Minjee Lee, per Golf News Net's field preview.
Sources: LPGA's tournament leaderboard, LPGA.com's tournament overview, Golf News Net's field preview, Launch Point Golf's Maybank Championship recap, LPGA.com's Round 1 recap, Associated Press report, LPGA.com's Yamashita recap.
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