...without Thanksgiving or the NFL to mess with professional golf schedules, the JLPGA is having its season finale and the JGTO its penultimate event this week.  Both tours feature tight money-list races. 

Shinobu Moromizato, a 6-time JLPGA winner this season, has pulled within 2 strokes of 5-time winner Sakura Yokomine, who trails her by less than 6 million yen, while 5-time winner Chie Arimura, who needs to win the Ricoh Cup to take the title from them, is only 3 shots behind Yokomine and 4 behind leader Momoko Ueda. 

Meanwhile, JGTO money-list leader Ryo Ishikawa is only 2 strokes behind Shigeki Maruyama and defending champion Koumei Oda in the Casio World Open, looking to extend his 5-shot and less-than-2-million-yen lead on Yuta Ikeda this weekend. 

The golfing Miyazato family could play spoiler in both events.  Ai-sama has had trouble finishing her rounds thus far this week but only trails Ueda by 4, while her brothers are tied with Ryo-kun and PGA Tour regular Shingo Katayama at -10. 

Some of the biggest names in Japanese golf are in contention in some of Japan's biggest events.  You'd think corporate American media would pay the slightest bit of attention, wouldn't you? 

Nah, they're too busy dissing the LPGA for going global.  Not to worry:  the golfy Olympics are still more than half a decade away.  That's time enough for us all to pick up our game and play a little catch-up!