Japan’s Hinako Shibuno, the AIG Women’s Open’s defending champion at Royal Troon this week, is known as the ‘Smiling Cinderella’ in her homeland but she means business this week on her first trip to Scotland.
Having received an invite to play in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club last week, where she played on a British links for the first time, she knows that she will face a very different challenge at Troon to last year at Woburn.
“I have always been conscious of keeping a smile on my face during play but after winning the Open last year it made me realise the importance of playing as well. We can expect some rain and wind, so I’m going to have to play smart, but as the defending champion I want to show some new parts of my game this week,” she said.
“It’s my first time in Scotland and I do have the impression of links courses being very windy and experiencing several weather conditions in one day, but I’ve been practising for this.
“I want to focus on my tee shots, to not put it in the fairway bunkers and also manage my strategy around the greens.”
Although she had watched the final round of the 2016 duel between Phil Mickelson and eventual winner Henrik Stenson at Royal Troon on television, Shibuno took her first real look at the course on Monday and she said afterwards: “It wasn’t as windy as I expected and maybe because of the rain, the fairways weren’t as firm as I had anticipated, so if I can keep my shots straight and not bend them into the rough, then I don’t think I’ll be in too much trouble, but I’ll need to avoid the bunkers.”
She practised from the bunker right of the green on the world-famous 114-yard par-3 8th hole, The Postage Stamp and commented: “It’s a short hole but it looks so much narrower than I had seen on TV and I think it’s going to be difficult.”
Shibuno achieved overnight fame after her major triumph last year and she knows that her home fans will be tuned in watching her performance over the four championship rounds.
“Last year, winning the tournament was life changing for me and I became a celebrity in Japan. Appearing in front of so many people at the airport when I returned was something I had only seen on TV, so it was an amazing experience.”
Despite her victory having led to some money-can’t-buy experiences, like meeting Tiger Woods and being Honorary Police Chief for a day, she said that nothing tops the feeling of winning the AIG Women’s Open.
It’s clear that it’s a feeling she wants to recreate again on Sunday.
