4 Japanese golfers with blazing starts at the 2023 TOTO Japan Classic ft. Akie Iwai

The 2023 TOTO Japan Classic got underway on Thursday, November 2. Surprisingly, the top four spots at the end of the first round are conquered by Japanese golfers.

The tournament is underway at Taiheiyo Club Minori in Omitama, Japan, and has a purse of $2 million. Japanese golfers have been incredible with their game playing on the home soil.

Here are the top four Japanese golfers who had a blast in the inaugural round of the 2023 TOTO Japan Championship.

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4 Japanese golfers with blazing starts at the 2023 TOTO Japan Classic

#1 Akie Iwai

Akie Iwai (Image via Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)

At the end of the first round of the 2023 TOTO Japan Classic, Akie Iwai topped the leaderboard with a score of under nine. She started the game with three back-to-back birdies on the first three holes. She made a bogey on the fourth and a birdie on the ninth hole.

Akie carded an eagle on the 12th followed by a birdie on the 13th hole. She finished the round after making three more birdies on the last holes of the first round.

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#2 Mone Inami

Mone Inami (Image via Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)

Mone Inami, another Japanese golfer, finished in second position following the first round of the 2023 TOTO Japan Classic. She finished a three-way tie with Yuna Nishimura and Nasa Hataoke.

Inami played a bogey-free round on Thursday. She started the game with a birdie on the second hole and then added two more birdies on the front nine and five birdies on the back nine. She finished with a score of 8-under par 64.

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#3 Yuna Nishimura

Yuna Nishimura (Image via Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)

Yuna Nishimura got started with two birdies on the second hole and third hole. She made three birdies on the front nine and five birdies on the back nine to score 8-under 64.

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#4 Nasa Hataoka

Nasa Hataoka (Image via Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)

Japanese golfer Nasa Hataoka made eight birdies in the first round of the 2023 TOTO Japan Championship. She started the game with a birdie on the second hole and added two more birdies on the fourth and fifth holes.

Hataoka made six birdies and one bogey on the back nine to settle for a score of 8-under par 64.