The Japan Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament resumed into action this year. 18-year-old Kokona Sakurai, who already swept away four wins in 2022, shot a first-round 5-under 67 on Friday to share the lead with Yasuko Satoh. Taiwan’s Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆) is in a tie for third at 67 with Naruha Miyata.

The co-sanctioned event by the Japan LPGA’s Step-Up Tour and the TLPGA Tour was staged for the first time in 2017, but went through a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. And this year, the JPY20,000,000 event finally returns on the schedule, featuring 108 players from the “JSU” Tour and the TLPGA Tour, who are playing through three days and 54 holes and competing for a JPY3,600,000 top prize. OHK Okayama Broadcasting is the co-organizer.

“I would like to thank the JLPGA, OHK Okayama Broadcasting and more than 100 local sponsors for making this event possible. We send about 30 TLPGA members every year to play at the Japan-Taiwan Friendship and I believe this provides a great learning opportunity for them to experience the great golf culture in a traditionally strong golf country as Japan, and that it helps our players to identify what they can still improve to rise onto such level,” said TLPGA chairwoman Liu Yi-Chen.

Seven Taiwanese women were featured today in the first-round. Phoebe Yao bannered the little TLPGA squad, shooting five birdies and one bogey to find herself in the top 3. In fact, she was tied for the lead through 16 holes, but a three-putt bogey on the 17th set her back.

“(Leader) Sakurai won four tournaments this season, which is obviously a great achievement and shows she is in amazing form, so I wouldn’t be giving myself too much pressure to beat her, but I would definitely try to challenge her with my best game,” said Yao, who is also a “JSU” Tour winner this year.

Yao captured her first victory in four years in June at the Shizuoka Shimbun & SBS Ladies, and is sitting ninth on the 2022 “JSU” Tour money leaderboard. Kokona Sakurai is firmly at the top of it with four victories under her belt. The Japanese teenager displayed yet another perfect round of golf, carding five birdies and zero blemish to race to the first-round lead at the Mannou Hills Country Club.

34-year-old veteran Yasuko Satoh scored a final-hole eagle to join Sakurai.

Taiwanese Kiwi Juliana Hung (洪玉霖) and Chen I-Wen (陳依妏) finished their first-rounds with matching 67s, sitting in a tie for 27th. Kuo Ai-Chen (郭艾榛) and Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏) registered 3-over 75s. Lin Shan-Wei (林善葳) and Chen Szu-Han (陳思涵) turned in a 78 and 80 respectively.

There will be a cut after tomorrow’s second-round to the top-50 and ties. Second round action will start on Saturday at 8:00.