Hinako Shibuno

Hinako Shibuno (渋野 日向子, Shibuno Hinako, born 15 November 1998) is a Japanese professional golfer who won the 2019 Women's British Open.

Hinako Shibuno
Shibuno in October 2019
Personal information
Full name	Hinako Shibuno
Nickname	Smiling Cinderella,[1] Shibuko[2]
Born	(1998-11-15) 15 November 1998 (age 26) Okayama, Okayama, Japan
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)[3]
Sporting nationality	Japan
Residence	Japan
Career
Turned professional	2018
Current tour(s)	LPGA of Japan Tour LPGA Tour
Professional wins	7
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	1
Ladies European Tour	1
LPGA of Japan Tour	6
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1)
Chevron Championship	T4: 2022
Women's PGA C'ship	T7: 2024
U.S. Women's Open	2nd: 2024
Women's British Open	Won: 2019
Evian Championship	T51: 2024
Achievements and awards
LPGA of Japan Tour Player of the Year 2019

Early years

Shibuno was born in Okayama, Japan on 15 November 1998.^[4] Her father was a discus thrower and her mother was a javelin thrower. She is the middle child of their three daughters.^[5]

She started playing golf and softball when she was a second grader. As a softball player, she was a pitcher and a converted left-handed hitter.^[5] As a golfer, she finished third in the 2010 Okayama Prefecture Junior Golf Championship (4th, 5th, and 6th grader division).^[6]

At Jōtō junior high school,^[7] she joined the school's baseball club as the only female player. However, after winning the 2011 Okayama Prefecture Junior Golf Championship (junior high school division), she decided to focus on golf, taking advice from her baseball coach.^[8]

In 2014, she was enrolled at Sakuyō High School where she continued to play golf for the school. In the same year, she won the Chūgoku Region Women's Amateur Championship.^[9] As a member of the school team, she won the team competition in the National High School Golf Championship in 2015.^[10]

Professional career

In 2017, after graduating from the high school, she was qualified to take a final test to be a professional but failed.^[11]

In 2018, she mainly played in the step-up tour circuit. The only JLPGA competition she played in that year was the Earth Mondahmin Cup in June where she was qualified after a successful Monday qualifier. She scored a hole-in-one at the 9th hole of the first day of the competition and earned 6 million yen for the feat, despite missing the cut.^[12]

In July 2018, she passed the test and turned professional.^[13]

In May 2019, Shibuno won the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup, one of the four major golf tournaments for women on the LPGA of Japan Tour.^[14] In July 2019, she won the Shiseido Anessa Ladies Open after a playoff.^[15]

In August 2019, she won the AIG Women's British Open,^[16] which was her first LPGA Tour event and her first time outside of Japan. She is the second Japanese player to win a women's major championship, after Hisako Higuchi, who won the 1977 LPGA Championship, as well as the second player this decade to win in her major debut, after Kim Hyo-joo at the 2014 Evian Championship.^[17]

Shibuno earned her card for the 2022 LPGA Tour through qualifying school.^[18]

Professional wins (7)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	4 Aug 2019	AIG Women's British Open^	66-69-67-68=270	−18	1 stroke	Lizette Salas

^ Co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	12 May 2019	World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup	71-68-66-71=276	−12	1 stroke	Bae Seon-woo
2	7 Jul 2019	Shiseido Anessa Ladies Open	71-68-66-71=276	−12	Playoff	Lee Min-young
3	22 Sep 2019	Descente Ladies Tokai Classic[19]	69-70-64=203	−13	2 strokes	Mayu Hamada Lee Ji-hee Teresa Lu Jiyai Shin Momoko Ueda
4	24 Nov 2019	Daio Paper Elleair Ladies Open	67-70-66-66=269	−19	1 stroke	Ai Suzuki
5	10 Oct 2021	Stanley Ladies Golf Tournament	71-67-68=206	−10	Playoff	Bae Seon-woo Ayako Kimura Miyu Sato
6	31 Oct 2021	Mitsubishi Electric/Hisako Higuchi Ladies Golf Tournament	69-68-70=207	−9	Playoff	Bae Seon-woo

Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in LPGA of Japan Tour.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
2019	AIG Women's British Open	2 shot lead	−18 (66-69-67-68=270)	1 strokes	Lizette Salas

Results timeline

! Tournament	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Chevron Championship		T51	CUT	T4	T28	T50
U.S. Women's Open		4	CUT	CUT	CUT	2
Women's PGA Championship		T58	T40	WD	CUT	T7
The Evian Championship		NT		CUT	T59	T51
Women's British Open	1	CUT	T34	3	CUT	CUT

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Chevron Championship	0	0	0	1	1	1	5	4
U.S. Women's Open	0	1	0	2	2	2	5	2
Women's PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	4
The Evian Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
Women's British Open	1	0	1	2	2	2	6	3
Totals	1	1	1	5	6	6	24	15

• Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2024 Chevron – 2024 Evian)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2024 U.S. Women's Open – 2024 Women's PGA)

LPGA Tour career summary

Year	Tournaments played	Cuts made*	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top 10s	Best finish	Earnings ($)	Money list rank	Scoring average	Scoring rank
2019	3	3	1	0	0	1	1	n/a	n/a	69.45	n/a
2020	7	5	0	0	0	1	4	n/a	n/a	72.26	n/a
2021	8	6	0	0	0	0	T31	n/a	n/a	71.68	n/a
2022	23	13	0	1	1	5	2	1,011,830	27	71.37	72
2023	23	17	0	0	0	1	T7	263,069	87	71.36	65
2024	25	15	0	1	0	2	2	1,719,878	14	72.32	118
Totals^	71 (2022)	45 (2022)	1	2	1	8	1	2,994,777	152

^ Official as of 2024 season^[20][21][22]
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year	Ranking	Source
2018	563	[23]
2019	11	[24]
2020	13	[25]
2021	37	[26]
2022	42	[27]
2023	95	[28]
2024	66	[29]

Team appearances

Professional

• International Crown (representing Japan): 2023

References

1. "Shibuno captures hearts everywhere with enchanting Women's British triumph". Golf Channel. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
2. "シブコの名付け親・大出瑞月があだ名誕生秘話を明かす「世界中で呼ばれてすごい」". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). Hochi Shimbun. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
3. "Hinako Shibuno – Profile". LPGA of Japan Tour.
4. "Hinako Shibuno". Fox Sports. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
5. "渋野日向子の"いま"を作り上げたソフトボール「ゴルフよりも好き」" (in Japanese). Golf Digest Online. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
6. "平成22年度岡山県ジュニアゴルフ選手権競技（小学生・女子の部／高学年）" (PDF) (in Japanese). 岡山県ゴルフ協会. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
7. "2011岡山県ジュニアゴルフ選手権競技（中学生・女子の部）" (PDF) (in Japanese). 岡山県ゴルフ協会. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
8. "ルーキーの肖像～渋野日向子" (in Japanese). ALBA.net. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
9. "2014中国女子アマチュアゴルフ選手権" (PDF) (in Japanese). 岡山県ゴルフ協会. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
10. "2015全国高等学校ゴルフ選手権大会団体の部" (PDF) (in Japanese). 日本高等学校ゴルフ連盟. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
11. "【2017】LPGA 最終プロテスト フルリーダーボード" (in Japanese). LPGA of Japan Tour. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
12. "【2018】アース・モンダミンカップ ホールバイホール初日" (in Japanese). LPGA of Japan Tour. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
13. "【2018】LPGA 最終プロテスト フルリーダーボード" (in Japanese). LPGA of Japan Tour. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
14. "20歳・渋野日向子がメジャーでツアー初優勝 涙の大会史上最年少V" (in Japanese). Golf Digest Online. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
15. "【2019】資生堂 アネッサ レディスオープン 過去大会・歴代優勝者" (in Japanese). LPGA of Japan Tour. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
16. Murray, Scott (4 August 2019). "Hinako Shibuno wins the 2019 Women's British Open - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
17. "In the Winner's Circle with Hinako Shibuno". LPGA. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
18. "2021 LPGA Q-Series". LPGA. 14 December 2021. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016.
19. "【2019】第50回デサントレディース東海クラシック" (in Japanese). LPGA of Japan Tour. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
20. "Hinako Shibuno stats". LPGA. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
21. "Hinako Shibuno results". LPGA. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
22. "Career Money". LPGA. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
23. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
24. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
25. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
26. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2021.
27. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2022.
28. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2023.
29. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2024.

External links

• Hinako Shibuno at the LPGA Tour official site
• Hinako Shibuno at the LPGA of Japan Tour official site
• Hinako Shibuno at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site