It was a successful homecoming for Rio Takeda of Japan, who took home the TOTO Japan Classic after hitting a birdie on the sixth playoff hole to defeat American Marina Alex. This victory marks Takeda’s first tour win in six starts and her eighth win on the JLPGA Tour.
Takeda started her climb to the top of the leaderboard early in the final round of action on Sunday, after sinking two birdies in the opening three holes. Takeda sank a clutch birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff with Alex.. Both Alex and Takeda, in their first career playoff, would go shot for shot until the sixth playoff hole, where both players found themselves in another spot to potentially birdie and claim victory. Alex would putt first and miss, while Takeda sank her putt to take the win.
Takeda is now eligible for a LPGA Tour membership after becoming the first non-member of the LPGA Tour to win on tour since fellow Japanese golfer Mone Inami won the TOTO Japan Classic last season. She can also choose to defer this membership until the 2025 season. If accepted, however, Takeda will earn 500 points in the Race to the CME Globe and $300,000 towards her official career earning on tour.
American Marina Alex adds her best finish since her victory at the 2022 FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championships with her second-place finish and is projected to move up from No. 61 to No. 32 in the RACE to CME Globe standings. Alex has had a successful couple of weeks with back-to-back top ten finishes at the Maybank Championship and now the TOTO Japan Classic.
“I added Hawai’i a few weeks ago in an effort to try and get into CME,” said Alex. “I’m still excited to go there, but I think it kind of motivated me to get the job done. And so it’s nice to have these next couple weeks not worried about that as trying to get in and actually just keep building on my game and get geared up for CME.”
The LPGA Tour heads to Hawaii next for the LOTTE Championship on November 6th.
