Iwanaga's Late Flourish Spurs Japan

Bogor, Indonesia: Anna Iwanaga rolled home birdie putts at the final four holes to lead Japan to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the 46th Queen Sirikit Cup.

Thanks to that late flourish, the 17-year-old posted a five-under-par 67 in steamy conditions at Sentul Highlands Golf Club where heavy overnight rain meant preferred lies on the fairway were permitted.

With Ai Goto contributing a 68, Japan soared to the summit with a score of nine-under 135 in the event in which the best two daily scores in each of the three-player teams are counted.

Although Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) champion Yang Yun-seo turned in an uncharacteristically sluggish performance with a two-over 74, Park Seo-jin (69) and Kim Gyu-been (70) both bettered par to claim a share of second place for defending champions Korea.

They are level on 139 with Hong Kong, China for whom Arianna Lau carded a 70 and Scotland-based Sabrina Wong a 69.

China is fourth in the 13-team event on 143 followed by Chinese Taipei (146), Vietnam (147), Thailand and Singapore (148), India (149), New Zealand (150), Indonesia and Malaysia (153) and the Philippines (154).

In the individual standings in the event that is known as the Amateur Ladies Asia-Pacific Invitational Golf Team Championship, Iwanaga leads by one from compatriot Goto with Wong and Park in joint third on 69.

Lau, Kim and Singaporean Chen Xingtong are locked together in equal fourth on 70 with China’s Li Menghan the only other player in the 39-strong field to break par.

“I’m very happy with that finish and with my putting,” said Iwanaga, 19th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and a winner on the Japan LPGA’s Step-Up Tour last year.

But it was not all plain sailing for Iwanaga. Two-under through four holes, her patience was tested at the fifth, a tough uphill dog-leg left where she found a tricky lie in a greenside bunker and needed a further four strokes to get down, that double-bogey returning her to even-par.

With four holes remaining, Iwanaga was at one-under, at which point she found another gear with birdies at the short 15th, the long 17th and the 16th and 18th, both par-fours, to transform her round and raise Japanese hopes of capturing an eighth Queen Sirikit Cup title and their first since 2022.

Korean Park also dropped four shots during her round – all of them coming at the par-four 13th where she ran up a quadruple-bogey eight. “That was quite a shock and I just tried to stay calm,” admitted the WAGR number 25, who held her game together. A closing birdie brought a smile back to her face. “After the 13th I have to be pleased with that.”

Kim, in contrast, was left to rue a disappointing finish. Having got to four-under through 16 holes, she made bogeys at 17 and 18 and signed for a 70.

For her part, Yang was on the back foot after dropping shots at the first and fifth. Her solitary birdie came at the par-five sixth but a bogey at eight meant she turned in two-over. With her putter running cold, she was only able to par all nine holes on the back side.

Despite her slow start, Yang, who tied for fourth at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, remains confident that she can help her country to a fourth successive triumph and a 16th win from the last 18 championships, having missed out only in 2013 and 2022.

Joint second-paced Hong Kong, China, meanwhile, are looking to lift the trophy for the first time.

Making her debut in Indonesia, Wong has adapted quickly to the time difference and the course conditions. “I had a really good round, especially my irons and short game,” said Wong, who chipped in for an improbable birdie at the seventh, her 16th hole of the day. “The course is really slopy and challenging, but I’m enjoying it.”

Full Team Scores

135 – Japan (Anna Iwanaga, Ai Goto, Yurina Hiroyoshi)
139 – Korea (Park Seo-jin; Kim Gyu-been; Yang Yun-seo)
139 – Hong Kong, China (Sabrina Wong, Arianna Lau, Felicia Hughes)
143 – China (Li Menghan, Xu Ningyao, Cui Jinghan)
146 – Chinese Taipei (Lin Jie-en, Hsieh Ping-hua, Chan Pei-wei)
147 – Vietnam (Le Chuc An, Nguyen Viet Gia Han, Anna Nguyen Le Minh Anh)
148 – Thailand (Prim Prachnakorn, Kanyarak Pongpithanon, Ngampan Chantana)
148 – Singapore (Chen Xingtong, Amelie Blossom Ng, Aamiya Koul)
149 – India (Guntas Kaur Sandhu, Ceerat Kang, Keya Badugu)
150 – New Zealand (Teresa Wang, Caitlin Maurice, Emma Zheng)
153 – Indonesia (Bianca Naomi Laksono, Lydia Hawila Stevany Sitorus; Abigail Rhea Soeryo Wiharko)
153 – Malaysia (Amberly Zaira Binti Zamri, Nur Batrisyia Balqis Abdul Ghani, Nur Diana Syafiqah Abdullah)
154 – Philippines (Junia Louise Gabasa, Lisa Sarines, Elizabeth Precious Zaragosa)

Full Individual Scores

67 – Anna Iwanaga (Japan)
68 – Ai Goto (Japan)
69 – Sabrina Wong (Hong Kong, China); Park Seo-jin (Korea)
70 – Chen Xingtong (Singapore); Arianna Lau (Hong Kong, China); Kim Gyu-been (Korea)
71 – Li Menghan (China)
72 – Teresa Wang (New Zealand); Xu Ningyao (China); Lin Jie-en (Chinese Taipei)
73 – Guntas Kaur Sandhu (India); Prim Prachnakorn (Thailand); Le Chuc An (Vietnam); Yurina Hiroyoshi (Japan)
74 – Anna Nguyen Le Minh Anh (Vietnam); Yang Yun-seo (Korea); Nguyen Viet Gia Han (Vietnam); Hsieh Ping-hua (Chinese Taipei)
75 – Chan Pei-wei (Chinese Taipei); Amberly Zaira Binti Zamri (Malaysia); Cui Jinghan (China); Kanyarak Pongpithanon (Thailand); Bianca Naomi Laksono (Indonesia)
76 – Ceerat Kang (India); Felicia Hughes (Hong Kong, China)
77 – Junia Louise Gabasa (Philippines); Ngampan Chantana (Thailand); Lisa Sarines (Philippines)
78 – Keya Badugu (India); Nur Batrisyia Balqis Abdul Ghani (Malaysia); Lydia Hawila Stevany Sitorus (Indonesia); Elizabeth Precious Zaragosa (Philippines); Amelie Blossom Ng (Singapore); Caitlin Maurice (New Zealand)
79 – Nur Diana Syafiqah Abdullah (Malaysia); Abigail Rhea Soeryo Wiharko (Indonesia)
80 – Aamiya Koul (Singapore)
83 – Emma Zheng (New Zealand)