Maiko Wakabayashi fires 69 in first round of Mizuno Classic 2012
Japanese Maiko Wakabayashi got off to a hot start at the Mizuno Classic 2012 as she fired a 69 in the first round on Friday.
The Mizuno Classic is being staged at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club, Shima-s**+, Mie, Japan, with a rich field featuring stars like current world number one Yani Tseng and defending champion
Momoko Ueda of Japan.
Wakabayashi is among a huge Japanese lineup that has been bolstered by the presence of Momoko Ueda and Mika Miyazato. But more importantly, her first-round performance was good enough to help
her rise to a tie for the third position on the leaderboard.
The Japanese golfer opened the round with a birdie, but carded a bogey on the par-4 third. She then parred the remaining holes on the front nine.
On the back nine, she ramped up pressure on rivals by shooting a string of birdies. She shot two back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th hole.
She once again impressed the Japanese spectators after she fired another two consecutive birdies on the 16th and 17th hole. Overall, she registered two bogeys.
Japanese spectators gave a rousing reception to not only local players, but also stars from United States and Europe. However, much of the attention was centred on players such as Miyazato
and the defending champion.
Ai Miyazato, who gave a miss to the ongoing tournament, has also expressed her confidence in the country’s players and friendly crowd.
She said that local crowd always plays a key role in helping players perform well on the course, but Japan ranks among the few countries that boast good sporting spirit.
“I think the Japanese people are very passionate about the game,” said Miyazato whose profile speaks of her talent as she has won two titles in the current season.
“I feel that the Japanese fans have tremendous respect for professional golfers but I really don’t know where it comes from”.
Just like other Asian countries such as South Korea and China, Japan is also capitalising on the business opportunities created by golf.
Miyazato said that the media attention has helped boost the sport in the country like never before. “Maybe because golf plays an important role in business in Japan. Every weekend golf is
on TV, so I think people are used to having golf in their lives”.
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