Chie Arimura Confirms Place in JLPGA Big 4

Chie Arimura held off Momoko Ueda for her 4th win on the JLPGA in '09 this week.  It's her 5th career win, but 3 of them have come during her last 8 events, during which she finished out of the top 4 only once (11th).  She's the 3rd player to cross the 100-million yen barrier this season--and like Sakura Yokomine, who did it last week, she's now 1 win and around 30 million yen away from catching Shinobu Moromizato.

Talk about momentum heading into next week's Japan Women's Open:  Arimura, Ueda, Yokomine, Miho Koga, and Ji-Hee Lee seem to be peaking for the JLPGA's 3rd major.  Ai Miyazato may well be the hottest female golfer in the world right now.  Mi-Jeong Jeon, who has a great chance to join the '09 100 Million Yen Club next week, has been playing just fine, thank you, and would love to make her 4th win of the season a major.  And Yuko Mitsuka followed up a successful campaign in the California sectional qualifier for LPGA Q-School last week with strong play and a top 4 finish this week.

In fact, the only golfer among the top 9 JLPGA regulars and irregulars is the only one with a chance for a Grand Slam  this season.  But don't count Moromizato out just yet.  And if Shiho Oyama's neck is healed, she may well be a contender next week as well.  So, with all due apologies for looking ahead (and maybe past) Arimura's huge win, I have to say I may well be more excited for the JWO than the first LPGA event in October (and last until the LPGA shows up in Korea at the end of the month).