Japan Boys extend lead, Thai Girls close in at Toyota Jr. Golf Cup

It was 12 months ago that Thailand’s girls used a strong final day to surge past host Japan and claim runner-up honors at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup.

Should they manage to duplicate the effort, they’ll take home the team championship.

The Japan boys (401) hold a six-stroke lead on France and the United States, who are joint second on 407 each, while the battle for the girls title is between Japan, who hold a one-stroke lead over Thailand going into the last round of the championship.

Keyed by Kritchanya Kaopattanaskul’s second 5-under-par 67 of the week, Thailand whittled a three-shot deficit behind Japan to just one at the end of a long, soggy Thursday, setting the stage for a captivating duel over the final 18 holes at Chukyo Golf Club.

One of the Morrocan girls in action. Courtesy photo

“I think it’s exciting,” said Kaopattanaskul, who also cut the margin to three behind Japan’s Mamika Shinchi for medalist honors. “We’re going to give our best again, but we need to putt a little better.”

Green speeds certainly were a little trickier on Thursday after a passing storm system halted play for 3 hours, 20 minutes. Even after play resumed, one more cloudburst sent about half the field back underneath umbrellas to finish their rounds.

 “It was quite difficult to stay focused,” Kaopattanaskul said. Japan — which didn’t even count Shinchi’s 71 after both of her teammates went lower — reached the 54-hole checkpoint at 22-under-par 410. But after trailing by five shots after Day 1, Thailand has outscored its rivals in each of the past two rounds. “If we put good rounds together tomorrow, we should be able to win,” said Anna Iwanaga, who paced Japan alongside Aira Nagasawa with matching 69s. Japan’s boys enjoyed better breathing room atop their division, though both France and a surging United States squad remain within striking distance.

With Koshin Nagasaki’s 66 matching the week’s second-best round and brother Taisei carding his second 67, Japan pulled away in Thursday’s final stages to open a six-shot advantage. Their three-day total of 25-under 401 is lowest since the boys switched last year to taking the best two of three scores.

One of the players for team USA in action. Courtesy photo

“Yes, this is getting very exciting,” said Taisei, who holds a two-shot lead in the individual competition. “We are all on the same page to play well to get the trophy.” France, the Day 1 leader, found itself losing ground for a second consecutive day. At the opposite end was Team USA, whose 134 Thursday nearly kept pace with Japan and fueled a continuing climb up the leaderboard. “Yeah, it was kind of a shock to the system after Day 1 (when Team USA stood sixth),” said Brooks Simmons, whose 68 left him two shots off Taisei Nagasaki’s pace for medalist honors. “I knew we were better than that, and it shows out over four days just how good teams are.”

Lorenzo Rodriguez also helped Thursday’s U.S. effort with a bogey-free 66, producing a balanced card with three birdies before the rain delay and two following. Though Taisei Nagasaki’s total of 14-under 199 was good for a two-shot advantage, there’s a handful of pursuers in position to make a run. No fewer than four rivals are within four shots of the top, including Nagasaki’s brother. “That’s why we are here — to compete,” said Colombia’s Tomas Restrepo (69), also two back after holding a share of the lead after each of the first two days. “If there’s going to be five guys competing for the title, that’s going to be nice.”

France’s Tom De Herrypon (68) joined Simmons and Restrepo at the front of the chase pack, all at 12-under 201. De Herrypon began his round with nine consecutive pars before the storms came, then used the delay for a mental reset. “The break helped me a lot,” he said. “It refreshed my mind and helped me go for it again on the back nine. I managed to play well.”

Shinchi remains atop the girls’ individual competition, though Thursday produced an up-and-down round. After two birdies in her first five holes, she bogeyed the par-5 sixth and played her remaining 12 holes in even-par.

Nonetheless, her total of 12-under 204 left her three shots ahead of Kaopattanaskul and four clear of Iwanaga and Canada’s Shauna Liu. Kaopattanaskul’s round was highlighted by a birdie at the par-5 16th, where she was just over the green in two and nearly chipped in for an eagle. More importantly, she went bogey-free after suffering two double bogeys a day earlier.

“I controlled my tee shot a lot better,” she said. “Then I could hit my approaches closer to the hole; most were like 6 feet.”

 The real intrigue, though, lies on the team side. Last year was Thailand’s first appearance in the girls’ division, gaining confidence even as no one was going to challenge a powerhouse U.S. squad.

“We were proud of the way we played last year,” said Pimpisa Rubrong, one of two returning players alongside Prim Prachnakorn. “We know how the course played, so we feel like we can play better here than last year.”

A month ago, Thailand bested Japan again in taking second at the Queen Sirikit Cup girls’ team event in Japan, albeit behind another runaway winner in Korea.

“Having that result created a lot of motivation to win the team title here,” said Japan’s Iwanaga. “It has been a strong driver now to win the team competition.”

 Japan has won five of nine girls’ team titles since the division was added a decade ago, never finishing outside the top two until last year.

Canada was eight shots off the pace in a distant third, getting a 68 from Michelle Xing on Thursday to go with Liu’s 69.

The Toyota Junior Golf World Cup is the final stop of a process that began with 70 national teams entered in regional qualifiers across six continents. The boys’ field features 12 teams competing for the championship; nine teams advanced to the girls’ finals.

Uganda boys finished fifth out of 12 while the girls finished 8th out of nine and failed to qualify for this year’s event after an African qualifier in Morocco in April.