At the Japan Classic, Rio Takeda won against American Marina Alex in a six-hole sudden-death play-off to secure her first LPGA tour title.
Due to the unexpected weather on the day of the competition, the play was shortened to 54 regulation holes. The 21-year-old athlete forced a play-off by birdieing the 18th hole, leaving them at 15 under.
The first play-off hole was birdied by both players, and they both found par on the following four holes. However, on the par-five 18th hole, Takeda made a birdie to seal her win and defeat Alex, who could only manage par.
Takeda has earned a tour card as a result of the play-off victory, which was one of the longest in LPGA history. With this, the athlete said: “I was planning to take Q School in December and now I can skip that and go and play next year on the LPGA tour, which is exciting for me now.”
In a social media post, Takeda also stated (translated): “It’s been a long time until the playoffs, but I think we won the championship thanks to everyone who supported us until the end 😆”
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