Hinako Shibuno

Shibuno was born in Okayama, Japan, on 15 November 1998. Her father was a discus thrower, and her mother was a javelin thrower. She is the middle child of their three daughters and got the nickname "Smiling Cinderella." She started playing golf and softball when she was a second grader. She was a pitcher and a converted left-handed hitter as a softball player. As a golfer, she finished 3rd in the 2010 Okayama Prefecture Junior Golf Championship (4th, 5th, and 6th grader division).
At Joto junior high school, 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.
In 2014, she was enrolled at Sakuyo High School, where she continued to play golf for the school. In the same year, she won the Chugoku Region Women's Amateur Championship. As a member of the school team, she won the team competition in the National High School Golf Championship in 2015.
In 2017, after graduating from high school, she was qualified to take a final test to be a professional but failed.
2018 Notes: Shibuno 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 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 (just over $54,000) for the feat, despite missing the cut.
In July, she passed the test and turned professional. Shibuno played in Japan's Step up tour, which is like the Symetra Tour in the U.S. and the LET Access series in Europe. For the rest of 2018, she played in 16 events, making the cut in all of them. She had seven top-ten finishes, her best finish was T-3rd at the Nichiiko Ladies Open and 3rd at the Sky Ladies ABC Cup. She finished 10th on the Stepup tour money list with yen7,115,492 ($64,364).
2019 Notes: She joined the Japan LPGA and played in 31 events making 28 cuts with 13 top-ten finishes. In May, Shibuno won the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup, one of women's four major golf tournaments on the LPGA of Japan Tour. In July, she won the Shiseido Anessa Ladies Open after a playoff. She was to win four times that year and was 2nd on the LPGA Japan money list with yen152,614,314 or $1,380,488 In August, she won AIG Women's British Open by a shot over Lizette Salas. Shibuno shot 67 in the third round to lead by two shots. She got off to a slow start in the final round shooting one over on the front nine. At that point was a shot down to Salas, who shot 32 on the front nine. But with birdies at 10, 12, 13, 14, and 18 for a 31 on the back nine, she beat Salas, who missed a five-foot putt on the last hole, by a shot. The world then found out she had traveled outside of Japan for the 2nd time in her life (the first was to Thailand to practice earlier in the year), and the AIG Women's British Open was the first time she competed outside of Japan. She was 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 in the decade to win in her major debut, after Kim Hyo-Joo at the 2014 Evian Championship. At the time, if a non-member wins a major, she has the option to accept full LPGA Tour membership. Shibuno turned it down to get more experience playing on the JLPGA for another season. She says now that If she were to win another LPGA Tour event, she would be quick to say she'd accept an LPGA membership. She did play in two more LPGA events finishing T-39th at the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA and T-13th at the Toto Japan Classic.
2020/21 Notes: Played in 24 events in the duel season, brought on due to COVID-19. She made 19 cuts with nine top-ten finishes. Was 19th on the money list with Yen79,004,375 (US$581,590) in earnings. In 2020 her best finish was T-3rd at the JLPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup. It was decided that the 2020 season would run through the 2021 calendar year to make two years one season. In July, she traveled back to England but didn't fare well, missing the cut at both the Ladies Scottish Open and in defense of her AIG Women's Open title. She played a total of 7 LPGA events, and her only top-ten was a 4th at the U.S. Women's Open. She opened up with rounds of 68-67 to lead after 2 rounds. A third-round 74 still kept her in the lead, but when she shot 74 in the final round was three shots back of winner A Lim Kim. In 2021 she got hot in the last half of the season, finishing in the top ten in seven of her last ten starts. She won twice at the Stanley Ladies and the Mitsubishi Electric Hisako Higuchi Ladies Golf and had a 3rd at the Fujitsu Ladies Golf. On the LPGA Tour, she played in eight events making six cuts her best finish was T-31st at the Pure Silk Championship. After the season, she was T-20th in LPGA Q Series to earn her LPGA card for 2022 with the plan to play most of her golf in America.
2022 Notes: Played in 23 LPGA Tour events making 13 cuts with five top-ten finishes. She was 36th on the CME rankings and 27th on the money list earning $1,011,830. She was T-8th at the Honda LPGA Thailand. At the Chevron Championship, she was T-4th, four shots back of winner Jennifer Kupcho. At the LPGA Lotte Championship in Hawaii, she was 2nd, two shots back of winner Hyo Joo Kim. She was 3rd in the AIG Women?s Open, one shot out of the Ashleigh Buhai/In Gee Chun playoff. Ended the season with a T-49th finish at the CME Group Tour Championship.
2023 Notes: Was T-7th at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mt. Was a member of Japan?s team at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown and was 0-2-1 in the matches.