Shiho Kuwaki claims fourth JLPGA title of 2026 to strengthen Player of the Year lead

Japanese star Shiho Kuwaki won the NOBUTA GROUP Masters GC Ladies on 25 October 2026, closing with a three-under-par 69 at Masters Golf Club in Miki, Hyogo Prefecture. Her four-round total of 15-under 273 was one stroke better than runner-up Ayame Morii, who finished on 14 under. Shuri Sakuma and Aiki Takano shared third on 13 under.

For Kuwaki, it was a fourth JLPGA Tour victory of the 2026 season, the seventh of her career on Japan's premier women's circuit. It further reinforced her position at the top of the season-long Mercedes Ranking, but with more events still to play, the Player of the Year race is not officially over.

A turnaround in the space of a week

That success was not built on a week of effortless ball-striking. Kuwaki had tied for 13th at the Fujitsu Ladies a week earlier and was frustrated that she could not produce her preferred fade reliably. At the NOBUTA event she reviewed her swing after the second round, feeling that it had become too flat. An adjustment towards a more vertical movement helped restore confidence, and a third-round 67 put her in sole possession of the lead for the final day.

Her full-week figures were remarkably strong: only four missed fairways across four rounds and an 80.56% greens-in-regulation rate, according to the official JLPGA account. Those numbers matter because they show how a player who did not feel fully comfortable with her swing still managed to control the golf course.

Why she avoided the scoreboard

Kuwaki made a deliberate choice on Sunday not to consult the leaderboard. With concerns remaining about her putting, she wanted to focus on individual shots rather than manufacture extra pressure. She needed just 26 putts in her closing round.

At the par-three 17th, a bogey left her facing a putt of roughly one metre; she converted it to preserve control of her position. On the par-four 18th, Kuwaki said she continued to look for a birdie instead of merely protecting a one-shot lead. Her closing 69 was enough to finish at 15 under, one clear of Morii.

The tournament carried ¥200 million in total prize money, with ¥36 million going to the winner.

Bigger than one trophy

The result makes Kuwaki an increasingly strong candidate for the JLPGA's season-long honour. The official tour reports that she intends to skip next week's event and play four more tournaments this season. Her stated ambition is to keep improving and to remain competitive when the swing does not feel perfect.

Kuwaki also won the AIG Women's Open in August 2026, a separate major achievement. The four-win figure here refers specifically to her 2026 JLPGA Tour campaign, not all worldwide titles combined.

Primary source: JLPGA's official report, 25 October 2026: https://www.lpga.or.jp/news/info/84384. Image: illustrative archival photograph of a golf course in Japan; not Kuwaki and not the host venue. Kugel~commonswiki / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, unmodified. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golf_course_at_Kanucha_Resort_202111_01.jpg; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/