Spotlight Falls on Leading Asia-Pacific Ladies

Singapore: While Nasa Hataoka sets her sights on an Olympic medal for Japan, fellow former Faldo Series Asia participants will be seeking success in the 121st US Women’s Amateur Championship.

Before Hataoka steps into the spotlight at Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki Country Club on Wednesday, a quintet of notable Faldo Series Asia females will be battling for glory at Westchester Country Club’s West Course in Rye, New York.

Joining the Chinese-Taipei duo of An Ho-yu and Lorena Tseng Tsai-ching in the 156-strong starting line-up for 36 holes of stroke play (August 2-3) are Vietnam’s Hanako Kawasaki, Thai Kan Bunnabodee and Rianne Mikhaela Malixi of the Philippines.

Sir Nick Faldo, Founder of the Faldo Series, said: “It’s fabulous to see so many of our former Faldo Series Asia players faring so well in the game – some still as elite amateurs and others, such as Nasa, as high-profile professionals. I’ll be following their progress closely in the coming weeks, and look forward to celebrating many future successes with them in the future.”

Other notable Asia-Pacific entrants include Japan’s Tsubasa Kajitani, winner of April’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur, China’s Ye Lei, Australians Grace Kim and Emily Mahar, Chinese-Taipei’s Hou Yu-chiang and Malaysians Alyaa Abdulghany and Audrey Tan.

The US Women’s Amateur is regarded as one of the most prestigious events on the global amateur golfing calendar, frequently proving a final gauge of whether a player is ready to join the ranks of the professionals.

After 36 holes of stroke play, the leading 64 players will progress to match play. There will be six rounds of match play at Westchester with the championship scheduled to conclude with a 36-hole final on August 8 – the day after the Olympic women’s tournament reaches its climax.

Hataoka’s future success was presaged by her victories as an amateur in the 2016 Japan Women’s Open, a Major on the LPGA of Japan Tour, and the 10th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.

In 2018, she collected her maiden victory on the LPGA Tour at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, the year in which she tied for 10th in her first US Women’s Open and shared runner-up honours in the 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA.

Of the US Women’s Amateur Championship contingent, An is currently seventh in The R&A’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, followed by Tseng (67th), Kan (208th), Malixi (440th) and Kawasaki (693rd).

Playing in the Girls’ Under-16 segment at the 2018 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Vietnam’s Laguna Lang Co, An tied for seventh. In the Girls’ Under-21 category at the same event, her compatriot Tseng placed third with Vietnam’s Kawasaki tied for sixth.

A year later, in the 13th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, Thai Kan was runner-up in the Girls’ Under-16.

At Westchester Country Club, much attention will be focused on Malixi, who, as a 12-year-old prodigy, won the Girls Under-16 section at the Faldo Series Philippines Championship at the start of 2020.

A fortnight earlier, Malixi had written her name into the Philippines golfing record books by becoming the youngest winner of the National Stroke Play Championship, defeating Southeast Asian Games team gold medallist Abby Arevalo at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off.