In the 2025 Japan Golf Tour season, an under-70 average per round is a good indication of a top golfer's all-around consistency.
After all, entering August, only three golfers on the tour were averaging under 70 strokes per round, according to the tour's official website.
Tatsunori Shogenji is No 1 with a 69.611 scoring average. Ren Yonezawa sits in second place (69.637), while Kota Kaneko is third (69.838).
Among the three golfers, Kaneko is the youngest at 22 years old. Yonezawa is 26 and Shogenji is 27.
In the final tournament of June, Shogenji collected his second Japan Golf Tour title, winning the Japan Players Championship by one stroke over Ryuichi Oiwa. Shogenji carded a 6-under 65 in the final round at Nishi Nasuno Country Club in Tochigi Prefecture to complete the four-round event with a 23-under 261.
The Yamaguchi Prefecture native also triumphed at the season-opening Token Homemate Cup in Nagoya in mid-April.
"I was declared the winner of the Token Homemate Cup after 54 holes because the final round was abandoned due to inclement weather," Shogenji told reporters on June 29. "Fighting through all four rounds this week makes this win even more special. Surviving the back-nine pressure today proved I can win under any conditions."
Chasing a Title in Ishikawa Prefecture
Fast forward to the Richard Mille Charity Tournament, and of the aforementioned scoring average leaders, Yonezawa is in the best position to contend for the title on Sunday, August 3. After the third round, he's in sixth place at 15-under 201 (66-64-71) at Noto Country Club in Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
Meanwhile, Shogenji and Kaneko were tied for 25th place at 11-under 205 heading into the final round. Shogenji shot a 4-under 68 in the opening round, followed by another 68 and then a 69 over the next two days. Kaneko opened the tourney with a 66, then shot a 69 and a 70.
Riki Kawamoto held the slimmest of leads heading into the final round. After successive rounds of 63, 68 and 68, Kawamoto owned a total score of 19-under 197, a one-stroke advantage over Ryunosuke Furukawa.
Kawamoto said he expected stiff competition on Sunday at Noto Country Club.
"Everyone in the hunt is playing well," Kawamoto said, according to the Japan Golf Tour website. "They have been hitting solid shots and making putts. I've been doing likewise. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in this position, too. But to pull ahead, it'll really take something special, like maybe draining one or two long putts. The player who pulls off that one great shot will probably win."
Golf for a Good Cause
With a full field of 144 players, the Richard Mille Charity Tournament is staging its debut on the Japan Golf Tour.
Proceeds from the tournament are earmarked for Noto Peninsula earthquake recovery efforts and continued support for junior golfers' development in Japan, according to a news release.
Veteran golfer Ryo Ishikawa spoke about his enthusiasm for the new tournament before it started on Thursday, July 31.
"Many players have a strong personal commitment to support in various ways," Ishikawa commented. "But hosting an actual tour event takes an incredible amount of effort. This tournament will give players the opportunity to share the seriousness and passion of the sport directly with the audience."
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Fencing
Japan Men Grab Gold in Epee Team Event at the World Championships
In the men's team epee event, Japan captured the gold medal on the final day of the 2025 Fencing World Championships.
Japan defeated Kazakhstan 42-41 in the semifinals and then topped Hungary 45-35 in the final on Wednesday, July 30 in Tbilisi, Georgia.
"It is [the] most wonderful day in my fencing life," Japan fencer Seiya Asami said, according to the International Fencing Federation website. He then said, "It was a very tough day with tough matches, but we trust our teammates and we trust our coach, and we trust Japan to win. Kazakhstan was the most difficult, we were behind and Koki Kano got the points to help us win."
Kano, who earlier in the week won the title in the epee fencing individual competition, Asami, Akira Komata and Masaru Yamada represented Japan in the final.
Japan won the team title at the world championships for the first time, achieving the feat a year after claiming the silver at the Paris Games. (Hungary held off Japan 26-25 in the Olympic final in 2024.)
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Swimming
Watanabe Nabs Silver in 200-Meter Breaststroke at the World Championships
Ippei Watanabe collected his first World Aquatics Championships medal since 2019 on Friday, August 1 in Singapore. The 28-year-old Oita Prefecture native finished as the runner-up in the men's 200-meter breaststroke final in 2 minutes, 7.70 seconds.
China's Haiyang Qin won the race in 2:07.41 and Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands claimed the bronze medal (2:07.73).
Watanabe was the third-place finisher at the world championships in 2017 and '19 in Budapest and Gwangju, South Korea, respectively.
In Friday's final, Watanabe swam in Lane 4 and Qin was on the outside in the eighth lane.
"It's my first medal in six years," Watanabe said after the race. "I thought I would be happier, but all I feel is frustration. Honestly, I could have won. It was a race I had to win. I knew I wouldn't be able to see him (Qin) at all, even if he went out fast in the first half. [So,] I was focused on beating the strong swimmers on either side of me."
In January 2017, Watanabe became the first swimmer to break the 2:07 barrier in the 200-meter breaststroke, winning the event at the Kosuke Kitajima Cup in Tokyo in 2:06.67.
Qin is the current world record holder (2:05.48). He swam this blistering time at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.
Volleyball
Japan Falls in the Nations League Quarterfinals
Poland eliminated Japan in the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League quarterfinals, winning 25-23, 26-24, 25-12 on Thursday, July 31 in Ningbo, China.
For Japan, Kento Miyaura had a match-high 17 points, including 15 kills. Captain Yuki Ishikawa had 11 points.
Poland's Kewin Sasak led his team with 15 points, while Tomasz Fornal contributed 11 points, including a match-best four blocks.
Japan struggled to contain world No 1 Poland's potent effort at the net. The Poles had 14 blocks, and Japan was held to three.
Due to its struggles at the net, Japan won't replicate its tournament achievement from 2024, when it was the runner-up at the Men's Volleyball Nations League.
"Today we could not get a good result, so we have to prepare for getting good results at the world championship," Miyaura told Volleyball World on Thursday.
Up next for Miyaura, Ishikawa and their teammates: the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship (September 12-28), a 32-nation competition in the Philippines.
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Baseball
Swallows' Murakami Belts 1st Homer of 2025
Munetaka Murakami, the 2022 Central League Triple Crown winner, hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday, July 29.
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger smacked a solo homer to left off Yokohama DeNA BayStars starter Katsuki Azuma.
Yakult recorded its seventh consecutive victory, topping DeNA 5-1.
A day later, the Swallows extended their winning streak to a season-best eight games, beating the BayStars 2-1. The streak ended with a 14-1 loss to the BayStars on Thursday.
Murakami was sidelined for about 3½ months with an upper-body injury
Batting cleanup and starting at third base, He appeared in his fifth game of the season on Friday, going 10-for-5 with three strikeouts in a 3-2 10-inning loss to the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers at Jingu Stadium.
Through games of August 2, Hanshin sat atop the CL standings with a 59-36-2 record. Yakult (32-53-5) was in last place.
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Darvish Earns 204th Career Win to Move Atop NPB/MLB List
San Diego Padres right-hander Yu Darvish rebounded from his worst start of the MLB season with his best pitching performance of 2025 on Wednesday, July 30. The 38-year-old held the visiting New York Mets to two hits over seven scoreless innings, striking out seven in the Padres' 5-0 win.
In his previous start, Darvish (1-3) was tagged for eight runs on eight hits against the St Louis Cardinals on July 24.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was impressed with Darvish's performance against his team.
"When he's throwing all of his pitches for strikes, he could be tough," Mendoza said, according to MLB.com. "It looked like we were guessing once he started throwing everything. … He kept us off-balance, and everything was working for him."
With a dominant performance against the Mets, Darvish earned the 204th combined win of his NPB and MLB career. The victory moved him past Hiroki Kuroda as the sole leader of the most combined wins in the two leagues. And Darvish now has 111 wins in his 13 MLB seasons.
"It means a lot," Darvish said of collecting his 204th win, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. "I'm very happy. We're talking about legends like Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda. And just to be able to get closer to these legends, it means a lot and I'm very happy about that."
Kuroda won 79 games in seven MLB seasons (2008-14) and an additional 124 in NPB (1997-07, 2015-16).
Nomo is the only other pitcher to win 200 or more combined games in MLB and NPB, collecting 201 victories in his trailblazing career.
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Soccer
Liverpool Outplays Marinos in Friendly
Reigning English Premier League champion Liverpool wrapped up its preseason tour of Asia by beating the J.League's Yokohama F Marinos 3-1 on Wednesday, July 30.
An announced crowd of 67,032 watched a scoreless first half at Nissan Stadium before the goals came one after another after halftime.
Asahi Uenaka gave Marinos a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute.
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz made it 1-1 in the 62nd minute, and teammates Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha scored in the 68th and 87th, respectively.
The final goal was one to remember, with 16-year-old Ngumoha showcasing his talent. As The London Evening Standard reported on its live game blog: "The teenager has been excellent since his introduction [in the 73rd minute] and he picks out the bottom corner with ease after a rapid break."
Ngumoha has lofty aspirations with Liverpool, but he recognizes it will likely take time for him to be a regular fixture in the lineup.
"I'm not trying to rush because I'm still only young," he said after the match, according to Liverpool's official website. "But at the same time, I just want to show the manager what I can do and not get too complacent. I just want to do bigger and better things for me and the club."
A Thrilling Homecoming for Endo
Midfielder Wataru Endo entered the match as a Liverpool substitute in the 60th minute.
Endo, who joined Liverpool in 2023, enjoyed the lively atmosphere at Nissan Stadium, and was moved by fans paying tribute to Liverpool's Diogo Jota, who was killed in an automobile accident in Spain on July 3.
"Coming back to the city where I grew up as a Liverpool player was a special, wonderful moment," Endo was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "I know there are lots of Liverpool fans and I'm grateful as a Japanese about their actions toward the team [about Jota]."
It was Liverpool's first match in Japan since the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup.
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Tennis
Osaka Advances to the National Bank Open 4th Round
After switching coaches earlier in the week, Naomi Osaka posted three consecutive women's singles victories at the National Bank Open to reach the round of 16.
The 49th-ranked Osaka defeated Jelena Ostapenko, the tourney's No 22 seed, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round in Montreal on Friday, August 1.
"I went in there knowing she's a great player and if I give her a chance she's going to hit a winner on me, so I just tried to keep my pace and stay as solid as I could," Osaka was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
On Sunday, Osaka's fourth-round opponent is Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, who is ranked 386th.
Tomasz Wiktorowski is Osaka's new coach. He's working on a trial basis.
In other National Bank Open news, 110th-ranked Aoi Ito lost in the third round to Spain's Jessica Bouzas, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, on Friday.
Basketball
Ex-B.League Star Williams Joins Cavaliers Coaching Staff
Jawad Williams retired as a player in 2022 and has spent the past few years getting established as a basketball coach. The former NBA and B.League standout, who also experienced success in European pro leagues, finalized a deal to serve as an assistant coach for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, it was announced earlier this summer.
In his most recent job, the University of North Carolina alum served as an assistant coach/director of player development for the Sacramento Kings.
Williams, 42, said he's excited about the next chapter of his coaching career.
"I grew up on the East Side from St Clair, from St Clair to North Carolina, to the NBA, to all around the world, and then back here again. It's been unbelievable," the former Alvark Tokyo star said in an interview with News 5 Cleveland, an ABC TV affiliate, in July.
"To see how far I've come — and I don't take many moments to actually look back — but actually signing here as a coach, that was the one time I did look back and remember how far I've come. It's been a blessing, and I couldn't ask for a better story right now."
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Quote of the Week
"No matter how many minutes we needed him ― one, two, three, four, five, 10, 15 ― he was always there for the team, and that is a very important reason for us winning the league last season. He totally deserved to get the credit from the Japanese fans today. If I helped him a little bit by giving him the captain's armband, then that's nice because he totally deserves this."
―Liverpool manager Arne Slot, on Wataru Endo's impact in the team's 2024 Premier League title-winning campaign and fans' appreciation of him at Nissan Stadium on July 30.
Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
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