The Toto Japan Classic is an annual women's professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tournament in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, jointly sanctioned by the two richest women's professional tours: the U.S.-based

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

and the

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. The tour was founded in 1968. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the mo ...

. It was an unofficial money event on the LPGA Tour from 1973 to 1975. It has taken place every year since 1973 at various locations, and is typically held in early November. From

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

through

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, the event has been played at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club in Shima, Mie. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, the events have been held at Minori Course of Taiheiyo Club in

Omitama, Ibaraki 280px, Lake Kasumigaura from Omitama is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,776 in 18,311 households and a population density of 337 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged ...

, then changed back to the North Course of Seta Golf Course in

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

Shiga prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

for

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

events. The tournament has had various names and sponsors throughout its history. Its current title sponsor is Toto Ltd. a Japanese bathroom products supplier.

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 96 international p ...

won the tournament five consecutive times from

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. In 2007,

Momoko Ueda is a Japanese female professional golfer who in 2007 at the age of 21 became the youngest player in the history of the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA) to finish first on the money list. She also played on the United States–based LPGA Tour for six y ...

of Japan scored a final round double eagle to win by two strokes over runners-up Maria Hjorth and Reilley Rankin.

Tournament names

*1973–1974: LPGA Japan Classic *1975: Japan Classic *1976: LPGA/Japan Mizuno Classic *1977–1979: Mizuno Japan Classic *1980–1992:

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Japan Classic *1993–1997: Toray Japan Queens Cup *1998: Japan Classic *1999–2014: Mizuno Classic *2015–present: Toto Japan Classic

Winners

^PO Won sudden-death playoff
¹ The 1990 tournament was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.
² The 2020 and 2021 tournaments were solely sanctioned by the

, and not on the United States-based LPGA Tour because of pandemic-related travel restrictions.
³ The 2024 tournament was shortened to 54 holes due to impact of Typhoon Kong-rey in Japan cancelling the third round.

References

External links

*
Coverage on LPGA's official siteCoverage on JLPGA's official site
{{Coord, 34.956, N, 135.922, E, display=title LPGA Tour events LPGA of Japan Tour events Golf tournaments in Japan Sport in Mie Prefecture Recurring sporting events established in 1973 1973 establishments in Japan MBS Media Holdings Toray Industries