This is the 36th year the Mizuno Classic has been held in Japan. It is hosted by the Kintestsu Kashikojima Country Club in Shima-Shi, Mie, Japan. Past winners here include, Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley, Betsy King and Annika Sorenstam.
Two golfers who are in the field this week, Karrie Webb and Stacy Lewis are both past champions of this event.
Lewis won the Mizuno Classic in 2012 and has finished inside the top-10 in each of the past four years. Webb, who hoisted the trophy in 2006, has 41 career LPGA Tour wins, including three in Japan.
Lewis, ranked No. 2 in the world, will be looking to gain ground on No. 1 Inbee Park, who won last week at the Fubon Taiwan LPGA Championship. These two women have battled back and forth for the top spot in the Rolex Ranking for the past 20 months and have become the most dominant players on the LPGA Tour.
Lewis is No. 1 on the LPGA Tour money list and leads the Race to the CME Globe points list. With just the Mizuno Classic and two more events remaining, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational and the CME Group Tour Championship, every point counts to earn the $1 million bonus awarded to the first-ever winner of the Race to the CME Globe.
The Mizuno Classic is the final stop on the six-tournament Asian swing for the LPGA Tour. It is also the last chance for players not invited to Lorena Ochoa’s tournament and sit outside the top-72 on the Race to the CME Globe standings to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
Dame Laura Davies (89), Kris Tamulis (74) and Giulia Sergas (76) will all be trying to finish high up the leaderboard to secure a place in the tour championship.
A long LPGA Tour season is winding down, but there is still much to be gained.
No. 1 in the Rolex Ranking, the $1 million Race to the CME Globe bonus, LPGA Player of the Year and securing playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2015 are all on the line this week in Japan.