Latest news with #JLPGATour
Perth Now
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Bear forced opening day of golf tournament to be cancelled
The opening day of a pro-am golf tournament was cancelled after a bear was spotted on the course. On July 16, the grizzly beast decided to wander near the first tee at the Sendai Classic Golf Club in Tomiya, Japan. The Meiji Yasuda Ladies tournament, a JLPGA Tour event, was set to kick off on July 17, and was scheduled to last for four days. Players and staff were ordered to evacuate the course and the event was abandoned following the bear sighting. However, the tournament began on July 18 - without spectators. Organisers wrote on the tournament's website: "On Wednesday, a bear sighting on the course was reported and the pro-am tournament was cancelled to protect the safety of the participants, players and staff. "To ensure safety and to consider future measures, we have decided to cancel Thursday's opening day." The incident came two months after a bear was spotted on the green at Golf Club Twin Fields in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, during the first round of the Twinfield Ladies on the women's second-tier Step Up tour. As a result, the first round was cancelled.
UPI
18-07-2025
- Sport
- UPI
Watch: Golf tournament cancels opening day due to bear on the course
July 18 (UPI) -- The opening day of a golf tournament in Japan was called off when a bear was spotted on the course -- the second such incident within two months. The bear was spotted near the first tee at the Sendai Classic Golf Club on Wednesday, causing the pro-am competition scheduled for that day to be canceled. The Meiji Yasuda Ladies tournament, a JLPGA Tour event, had been scheduled to begin on Thursday but was canceled a result of the bear's presence. The tournament had originally been scheduled to last for four days. "On Wednesday, a bear sighting on the course was reported and the pro-am tournament was canceled to protect the safety of the participants, players and staff," organizers wrote on the tournament website. "To ensure safety and to consider future measures, we have decided to cancel Thursday's opening day. We will announce details of the tournament from Friday onward as soon as they have been decided." Organizers later decided the Meiji Yasuda Ladies tournament would go ahead as planned Friday, but without spectators. The incident follows a bear sighting at the Golf Club Twin Fields in Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in May that led to the final round of the Twinfield Ladies on the women's second-tier Step Up tour being canceled.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bear roaming golf course halts play at tournament again
A bear sighting on Wednesday prompted organizers of a golf tournament in Japan to cancel the opening day, marking the second time an ursine invader has halted play in the last two months. The bear was spotted in the morning near the first tee at the Meiji Yasuda Ladies tournament at Sendai Classic Golf Club in northern Japan on the professional JLPGA Tour. The pro-am competition scheduled for the same day was canceled, with organizers later deciding to scrap Thursday's opening day of the tournament. Organizers said they would decide later whether to play or cancel the rest of the competition, which has a total prize money of $670,000. "On Wednesday, a bear sighting on the course was reported and the pro-am tournament was cancelled to protect the safety of the participants, players and staff," said a statement on the tournament website. "To ensure safety and to consider future measures, we have decided to cancel Thursday's opening day," the statement continued. "We will announce details of the tournament from Friday onwards as soon as they have been decided." In May, the final round of the Twinfield Ladies on the women's second-tier Step Up tour in central Japan was cancelled after a bear was spotted on the course. The following month, a bear roaming the runway forced a Japanese airport to cancel flights and declare itself off-limits to passengers for the day. Human encounters with bears reached record levels in Japan last year, with 219 people attacked and six deaths in the 12 months to April 2024. Climate change affecting food sources and hibernation times is a key factor, but as Japan's aging population shrinks, humans are leaving rural areas, and that is also leaving room for bears to move in. "Then that area recovered to the forest, so bears have a chance to expand their range," biologist Koji Yamazaki, from Tokyo University of Agriculture, told CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer in 2023. Japan is one of the only places on the planet where a large mammal species has been reclaiming habitat — which is good news for the bears, but if, as biologists suspect, the bear population is growing, the country will have to figure out new ways to protect people, and vital infrastructure like airports, from the animals. Japan's government in February approved a bill allowing hunters to shoot bears in populated areas. In December, a bear that rampaged through a Japanese supermarket for two days was lured out with food coated in honey. Police said the animal was trapped and later killed. Son of man who was violently detained by ICE reacts after release Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits southern Alaska Solve the daily Crossword
The Mainichi
16-07-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Golf: Bear sighting forces cancellation of round in Japan LPGA event
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A bear was spotted on a golf course in northeastern Japan's Miyagi Prefecture on Wednesday, prompting organizers of a women's tournament to cancel Thursday's round. According to the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association, it is "the first time on record" that a round on the top-tier JLPGA Tour has been canceled due to a bear sighting. Wednesday's Pro-Am round was cut short as players and organizing staff had to evacuate the course at Sendai Classic Golf Club in Tomiya, near Sendai. The Meiji Yasuda Ladies tournament was originally scheduled for four days from Thursday. Organizers will decide on Thursday whether the event can proceed. About 120 golfers are registered to take part. "We're inspecting the situation around the course," a JLPGA public relations official said. "We'll make a decision after checking for signs of the bear." In late May, a bear sighting in Ishikawa Prefecture forced the cancellation of the final round of another women's golf tournament, on the second-tier Step Up Tour due to safety concerns.
NBC Sports
20-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Akie Iwai shoots 64 alongside twin sister to share 54-hole lead at JM Eagle LA Championship
LOS ANGELES — Akie Iwai shot an 8-under 64 playing alongside her twin sister Saturday for a share of the third-round lead in the JM Eagle LA Championship with Lauren Coughlin and Ingrid Lindblad. Coughlin made a 5-foot birdie putt on par-4 18th for a 66, and Lindblad — tied for the second-round lead with Ashleigh Buhai after a career-best 63 — shot 68 to match Iwai at 17-under 199 at El Caballero Country Club. Top-ranked Nelly Korda was three strokes back after a closing three-putt bogey in her final start before her title defense next week in Houston in the major Chevron Championship. Iwai, the 22-year-old Japanese player in her first season on the LPGA Tour, holed a 60-yard wedge shot for eagle on the par-5 first and had six birdies in her bogey-free round. 'I want to just win the tournament,' the six-time JLPGA Tour winner said. 'I want to win at least one tournament this year.' Twin sister Chisato Iwai was tied for 12th at 11 under after a 70. The sisters earned LPGA Tour cards last year at the qualifying tournament, with Chisato finishing second and Akie tying for fifth. Akie didn't think it was an advantage or disadvantage playing with her sister. 'No change mind because just another player, opponent,' she said. With the temperature in the mid-70s after barely getting into the 60s the previous two days, Coughlin birdied the first three holes and four of the first five. She parred the next 10 holes, then birdied two of the last three. 'Only one bogey for the first three days, so that's always really good,' Coughlin said. 'Made some really good par saves out there today and kind of in the middle of the round when I didn't, kind of lost it there for a little while, but was able to steady it and keep it going there at the end.' The 32-year-old player from Virginia won the CPKC Women's Open and Women's Scottish Open last year for her first LPGA Tour victories. Lindblad had four back-nine birdies. The 25-year-old former LSU star from Sweden is in her first season on the tour. 'I think just need to like stay in my own bubble a little bit, don't get too far ahead of myself,' Lindblad said. 'Obviously, the goal is to win, but we can't win tonight or on the first tee box tomorrow. So kind of just stay in the present and try to keep playing well.' Ina Yoon, another LPGA Tour rookie, was fourth at 15 under after a 64. Korda shot a 67 to get to 14 under. She had an eagle — hitting inside 2 feet on the par-5 16th — and four birdies in a back-nine charge muted by two bogeys — the last on 18 when she missed a 1 1/2-foot par try. 'Obviously, a little upset with my last putt on the last hole,' Korda said. 'That's just really unfortunate. Other than that, I hit some really solid shots. Made some good putts, too, but unfortunately did not make the last one. It stinks!' Minjee Lee, the 2021 winner at Wilshire Country Club, also was 14 under along with Rio Takeda. Lee shot 70, and Takeda had a 64. Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul had a 68 to top the group at 13 under. Two-time defending champion Hannah Green was 11 under after a 69. Buhai, tied for the lead after each of the first two rounds, had a 77 to drop into a tie for 39th at 8 under. The tournament is the final event of the tour's West Coast swing. It is being played at El Caballero because of renovations at Wilshire, with plans to return to Wilshire next season.
