Monami Tamura on a 19th birthday derailed by weather: the 18th-hole bogey she cannot forget

25 October 2026. Japan's Monami Tamura (田村萌来美) turned 19 on a day that could have brought her first professional victory. Instead, bad weather wiped out the final round of the Salonpas Ladies Open, a JLPGA Step Up Tour event at Wakagi Golf Club in Saga Prefecture. The two completed rounds became the final standings: Tamura shared third on five under par, two strokes behind winner Ayuka Murata at seven under.

An 18th-hole bogey that lingered

Speaking in the JLPGA's official collection of post-event comments on 25 October, Tamura did not conceal her disappointment. She had hoped to celebrate her birthday by chasing a win and believed there could still be opportunities to improve her score if play resumed. A reduced nine-hole finish had been considered, but conditions ultimately prevented the last day from taking place at all.

Her biggest personal regret was a bogey on the 18th hole the previous day. It is tempting to replay that stroke against the final leaderboard. Yet the key distinction is that two shots separated her from the leader, and there is no way to know what would have happened in an actual final round. The bogey was a meaningful moment in her own assessment, not proof that it cost her the trophy.

The significance of a title race cut short

Tamura's remarks carried ambition rather than any claim that the winner's trophy should have been hers. She wanted an opportunity to compete, even with a shorter closing round. In professional golf, weather is an uncontrollable opponent; when a tournament becomes official after fewer holes, players must accept the score already posted.

That is why this week's result can be read in two ways. A shared third place is a credible performance for a rookie. At the same time, it illustrates how much weight a late bogey can acquire when circumstances remove the chance to respond. The lesson is not that one shot decides every tournament. It is that the value of a shot becomes more visible when the next round never arrives.

Murata, a 21-year-old in her third professional season, received her first professional title at seven under. Lihana finished second at six under, with Tamura among the group tied third on five under. Those facts describe the outcome; they should not be confused with hypothetical results from rounds that were never played.

Her focus is already on what comes next

Tamura indicated that there were four events left in which she could still pursue a victory and stressed her determination to win. This was not a prediction or guarantee. It was a public statement of purpose from a young player confronted with an unusually frustrating end to a tournament.

On her 19th birthday, Tamura left with a podium finish rather than the celebration she had imagined. The most significant part of the interview may be the distinction between what she regretted and what she could still control: her next opportunity to compete.

Sources: JLPGA's original comments, 25 October 2026: https://www.lpga.or.jp/news/info/84366 ; official cancellation and results report: https://www.lpga.or.jp/news/info/84360 . All remarks are independently paraphrased; no translated statement is presented as a verbatim quotation.

Image: Illustrative archive photo of a golf course in Japan, taken on 17 May 2015; it is not Wakagi Golf Club and does not show Monami Tamura. Creator: NORIE's Fan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. File: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golf_course_in_Japan.jpg ; license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ . Commercial reuse is permitted subject to the license.