Rio Takeda claims eighth title of the season

After 60 holes of golf at Seta Golf Course, Rio Takeda is the winner of the 2024 TOTO Japan Classic after she made a birdie on the sixth play-off hole to defeat LPGA Tour veteran Marina Alex and claim her first victory on the LPGA Tour and her eighth victory on the JLPGA Tour.  

Teeing off this morning, Takeda was paired with Alex and fellow JLPGA player Saiki Fujita and sat three shots behind leader Hana Wakimoto. She carded two birdies in her first three holes to begin her movement up the leaderboard. Takeda parred the next four holes – all par 4s – before bogeying the par-3 8th and the par-4 9th. Her bogeys set her back to where she began, but this time, she was three shots behind new leader, Yealimi Noh, as Wakimoto slipped down the leaderboard with two bogeys in her first nine holes.

Takeda bounced back after the turn and responded with a birdie on the par-4 10th to move to 11-under-par. Another birdie on the par-5 13th helped as she sat one shot back from current leader and fellow playing partner, Alex. Takeda needed something big in her last six holes to ensure a chance for victory, and it came on 16 when she made an eagle to move to 14-under-par.

Entering the last two holes, she still sat one shot behind Alex who had just recorded back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to get to 15-under-par. Alex made two last pars in her final round and Takeda carded a clutch birdie on the par-5 18th to force a play-off. The duo waited to start the play-off until the final group of Wakimoto, Noh and Ariya Jutanugarn finished.

Play-off between Takeda and Alex

Takeda and Alex entered into the play-off with no prior experience. Starting on hole 18, each player opened the play-off strong with a birdie. The two would go on to play four more holes where they would practically replicate each other’s shots and find themselves in similar situations. Both Takeda and Alex had birdie putts that lipped out or narrowly missed the hole to win the title. On the sixth play-off hole, on 18, both players found themselves with another birdie putt. Farther away, Alex putted first and missed her birdie putt, while Takeda made hers to earn her first victory on the LPGA Tour.

“So this week I could manage to have my eighth win and I'm surprised with that, but I have three more tournaments to go in Japan so I need to brace myself, and I just try to finish my year in a great way,” said Takeda, who has eight wins and 13 additional top-10 finishes on the JLPGA Tour in 2024.

She is currently ranked No. 25 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and because of her win at the TOTO Japan Classic, a co-sanctioned event with the LPGA and JLPGA Tours, she is eligible for LPGA Tour Membership. She is eligible to accept immediate LPGA Tour Membership or, similarly to Mone Inami after the 2023 TOTO Japan Classic, she can defer her Membership to the 2025 LPGA Tour season.

Best finish on Tour for Marina Alex since 2022

With a runner-up finish, Alex earned her best finish on Tour since her win at the 2022 FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship. Additionally, after back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Maybank Championship and TOTO Japan Classic following a couple of weeks spent at home, Alex is projected to move from No. 61 to No. 32 in the Race to the CME Globe points list. The top 60 players in the Race to the CME Globe points list are eligible to play in the season-finale, the CME Group Tour Championship where players compete for one of the highest purses in women’s golf. Alex heads to Hawaii next for the LOTTE Championship.

“Really excited. I added Hawaii 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.”

Haeran Ryu finished in solo third place after a final-round 66. Her scorecard from Sunday consisted of birdies on every par 5 and just one bogey. Her finish at the TOTO Japan Classic is her 13th top-10 finish of the 2024 season in just 24 starts. JLPGA player Saiki Fujita and American Yealimi Noh finished in a tie for fourth place at 13-under par. Noh earned her fifth top-10 finish of the season, and second in her last four events. Fujita recorded her ninth top-10 finish of the JLPGA Tour season.

Next, the LPGA Tour heads to Oahu, Hawaii, for the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei, which starts on November 6.