Ayako Okamoto's Japan LPGA Championship Trophy - St. Augustine, FL
N 29° 59.482 W 081° 28.208
17R E 454652 N 3317921
Ayako Okamoto won the Japan LPGA Championship in 1979, 1982, and 1990. Her 1982 trophy is on display at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida.
Waymark Code: WMC2DT
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 07/17/2011
Views: 7
The posted coordinates are for the entrance to the World Golf Hall of Fame where the trophy is located.
ABOUT THE JAPAN LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP:
"The Japan LPGA Championship Konica Minolta Cup is the first-longest running tournament in the history of the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association. surpassed only by Japan Women's Open. It is one of three majors on the LPGA of Japan Tour."
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ABOUT AYAKO OKAMOTO:
"Ayako Okamoto (born 2 April 1951) is a Japanese professional golfer. She won 62 tournaments internationally, including 17 on the American LPGA Tour. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
"Okamoto was a superstar in Japan, but she decided to branch out and joined the American LPGA Tour in 1981. From 1982 through 1992, Okamoto won 17 times, her first coming at the 1982 Arizona Copper Classic. Okamoto was a consistent winner on the LPGA Tour, claiming four wins in 1987 (plus four runner-ups and 17 top-10s) and three wins each in 1984 and 1988. In 1987, she led the tour's money list and earned the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award, the first non-American to do either.
"The only thing Okamoto did not do in the United States was win a major. She finished as runner-up six times in major championships. Her best shot was 1987, when she lost an 18-hole playoff to Laura Davies for the U.S. Women's Open crown (JoAnne Carner was also in the playoff). She was in the top-10 at the Open every year from 1983 to 1987, and in the top-10 at the LPGA Championship every year from 1984 to 1991.
"Okamoto's last LPGA victory was in 1992, and 1993 was her last year to play a full or half schedule in the U.S. After 1993, Okamoto returned to Japan, where she played until 2005. In addition to her 17 LPGA wins, Okamoto also won 44 times on the LPGA of Japan Tour and once on the Ladies European Tour. She was voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on the International ballot and entered in 2005."
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