Published July 17, 2008 on September 13, 2021

Konica Minolta Eyes Return of Asian Stars After Local Success

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Konica Minolta, the title sponsor of the Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan (LPGA) championship, is looking forward to the return of Asia’s best female golfers following another successful conclusion to the 54th edition of the JLPGA Championship 2021 Konica Minolta Cup.

 

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic might have forced the absence of several of Asia’s best golfers to Japan for the Major tournament, but the ambition of establishing the JLPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup as one of Asia’s most prestigious major women’s golf tournaments remains the same.

 

Tomoko Katsumura, Senior Manager of International communication Department, Konica Minolta said: “We have been sponsoring the JLPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup for the past 25 years since 1997, and we are proud of how this traditional tournament has grown over the years. Like our corporate global expansion plans, we aim to make the JLPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup the number one women’s golf tournament in Asia.

 

“It’s a pity we could not invite several of Asia’s top women’s golfers to the tournament due to the challenges posed by COVID-19. But we are hopeful the situation will be better next year, and we can welcome their return.”

 

As part of its plans to raise the tournament’s stature, a minimum of 350 points has now been raised from the previous 300 to add more prestige to it in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

 

Former world number one Feng Shanshan and Inbee Park were among the international stars who last featured in the tournament in 2019. The Chinese finished second while the South Korean took ninth place.  Since then, the JLPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup has been staged as a domestic event due to the pandemic. It was held at Shizu Hills Country Club in Ibaraki prefecture and offered a lucrative prize purse of ¥ 200,000,000 (approximately US$1.8 million).

 

Japan’s Mone Inami, a silver medalist at the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games, broke the tournament record with a winning total of 19-under-par 269 to clinch her ninth professional career win.

 

“I was glad I was able to achieve it so quickly because my goal was to win the majors. My next goal is 10 wins, and I want to do my best with that goal. I also cannot wait to return to defend my title next year as I’m sure it’s going to be another exciting tournament,” said Inami.