We’ve already talked about her identical twin sister Chizzy, now it is time to discuss Akie Iwai, who is one of the most exciting young talents in all of women’s golf.
Iwai is one of those players that just passes the eye test while watching. She hits it long, she’s solid on the approach and is an above average putter. She also plays fearless in a way that is a bit reminiscent of Sei Young Kim. The next step for Iwai is to get a bit more consistent.
Iwai had seven triple bogeys or worse, which was the second most on the LPGA Tour. She also missed over 1/4 of her total cuts. She was top 10 in both first round and fourth round scoring, but was outside the top 35 in both second and third round. She had the best final round score on the Tour in 2025, a 61 at the Honda LPGA Thailand, but also had two rounds of 78 or higher.
Obviously, Iwai mades a lot of birdies as well. She was top five in birdie or better percentage and made nearly 4.5 birdies or better per round. She made the fourth most birdies on the LPGA Tour with 370 and was top 20 in eagles with nine.
Iwai was No. 17 in total strokes gained, doing much of her damage on approach, where she ranked No. 10. If there’s one relative weakness, she isn’t exactly elite around the greens, ranking No. 65 in strokes gained around the green and No. 63 in strokes gained putting, but those are both areas that experience should improve.
Iwai had seven top-10 finishes as a rookie with one win at the Standard Portland Classic. After that win in August, she had three more top-four finishes. She finished No. 13 in the CME Standings and No. 7 in Player of the Year standings.
If Iwai can clean up some of the inconsistency while not losing her aggressive nature, she will be one of the best player on the LPGA Tour in 2026.
