2022 Japan Golf Tour

Last updated

2022 Japan Golf Tour season
Duration31 March 2022 (2022-03-31) – 4 December 2022 (2022-12-04)
Number of official events24
Most wins Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa (4)
Money list Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa
Most Valuable Player Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa
Rookie of the Year Flag of Japan.svg Yuto Katsuragawa
2023

The 2022 Japan Golf Tour was the 49th season of the Japan Golf Tour (formerly the PGA of Japan Tour), the main professional golf tour in Japan since it was formed in 1973.

Contents

Response to LIV Golf

Following a statement produced by the Japan Golf Tour Organization on 1 October 2022, they outlined their position in regards to the ongoing dispute between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour and their alliance; the European Tour (DP World Tour). They stated that it would be beneficial to the Japan Golf Tour that they remained in a neutral position. However, they also came to the conclusion that they could potentially be better off siding with the PGA Tour, giving players in Asia a pathway to playing opportunities in the United States, as the Asian Tour has already struck an amicable relationship with LIV Golf, giving their players playing opportunities in the LIV Golf League via the International Series. [1] [2]

In December, a new agreement with the PGA Tour and European Tour was announced. As part of the deal, from 2023 onwards the top three on the Japan Golf Tour's season-ending money list earned status to play on the European Tour for the following season. [3]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2022 season. [4]

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(¥)
Winner [lower-alpha 1] OWGR
points
Other
tours [lower-alpha 2]
Notes
3 Apr Token Homemate Cup Mie130,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Jinichiro Kozuma (2)16
17 Apr Kansai Open Golf Championship Hyōgo80,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa (3)16
24 Apr ISPS Handa Championship in Japan Ibaraki100,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Yuto Katsuragawa (1)16 EUR New tournament
1 May The Crowns Aichi100,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Yuki Inamori (3)16
15 May Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup Ibaraki100,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Shugo Imahira (6)15 ASA
22 May Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament Ibaraki50,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Shugo Imahira (7)16Pro-Am
29 May Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Okayama80,000,000 Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Scott Vincent (3)16
5 Jun BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup Ibaraki150,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa (4)16Japan major
12 Jun ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament Fukuoka100,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Tomoyo Ikemura (2)16New tournament
26 Jun Japan Players Championship Tochigi50,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Yuki Inamori (4)16
7 Aug Japan PGA Championship Shizuoka150,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Mikumu Horikawa (3)16Japan major
21 Aug Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup Hokkaidō120,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Hiroshi Iwata (4)7.62
28 Aug Sansan KBC Augusta Fukuoka100,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Riki Kawamoto (1)8.08
4 Sep Fujisankei Classic Yamanashi110,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Kaito Onishi (1)7.29
11 Sep Shinhan Donghae Open Nara₩1,400,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa (5)9.03 ASA, KOR
18 Sep ANA Open Hokkaidō100,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Tomoharu Otsuki (2)7.08
25 Sep Panasonic Open Golf Championship Hyōgo100,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Taiga Semikawa (a) (1)7.51
2 Oct Vantelin Tokai Classic Aichi110,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Riki Kawamoto (2)7.36
9 Oct For The Players by The Players Gunma50,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Shintaro Kobayashi (1)4.33New tournament
23 Oct Japan Open Golf Championship Hyōgo210,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Taiga Semikawa (a) (2)8.57Japan major
30 Oct Heiwa PGM Championship Ibaraki150,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Rikuya Hoshino (6)6.11
6 Nov Mynavi ABC Championship Hyōgo120,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Mikumu Horikawa (4)6.12
13 Nov Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Shizuoka200,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Ryo Ishikawa (18)6.15
20 Nov Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Miyazaki200,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa (6)9.54
27 Nov Casio World Open Kōchi200,000,000 Flag of the United States.svg Chan Kim (8)6.73
4 Dec Golf Nippon Series JT Cup Tokyo130,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Hideto Tanihara (17)4.84Japan major

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(¥)
Winner(s) OWGR
points
Other
tours [lower-alpha 2]
Notes
23 Jan SMBC Singapore Open SingaporeUS$1,250,000 Flag of Thailand.svg Sadom Kaewkanjana 14 ASA
10 Apr Masters Tournament United StatesUS$15,000,000 Flag of the United States.svg Scottie Scheffler 100 Major championship
22 May PGA Championship United StatesUS$15,000,000 Flag of the United States.svg Justin Thomas 100 Major championship
19 Jun U.S. Open United StatesUS$17,500,000 Flag of England.svg Matt Fitzpatrick 100 Major championship
17 Jul The Open Championship ScotlandUS$14,000,000 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cameron Smith 100 Major championship
16 Oct Zozo Championship ChibaUS$11,000,000 Flag of the United States.svg Keegan Bradley 31.39 PGAT
11 Dec Hitachi 3Tours Championship Chiba57,000,000 Japan Golf Tour n/aTeam event

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen. [5] The top three players on the money list earned status to play on the 2023 European Tour (DP World Tour). [6] [7]

PositionPlayerPrize money (¥)Status earned
1 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa 181,598,825Promoted to European Tour
2 Flag of Japan.svg Rikuya Hoshino 114,404,050
3 Flag of Japan.svg Aguri Iwasaki 96,670,570
4 Flag of Japan.svg Mikumu Horikawa 95,594,744
5 Flag of Japan.svg Yuto Katsuragawa 87,970,697

Awards

AwardWinnerRef.
Most Valuable Player Flag of Japan.svg Kazuki Higa [8]
Rookie of the Year (Shimada Trophy) Flag of Japan.svg Yuto Katsuragawa [8]

Japan Challenge Tour

2022 Japan Challenge Tour season
Duration6 April 2022 (2022-04-06) – 14 October 2022 (2022-10-14)
Number of official events14
Most wins Flag of Japan.svg Takashi Ogiso (2)
Flag of Japan.svg Yujiro Ohori (2)
Money list Flag of Japan.svg Yujiro Ohori
2023

The 2022 Japan Challenge Tour, titled as the 2022 Abema Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 37th season of the Japan Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the Japan Golf Tour.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2022 season. [9]

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(¥)
Winner [lower-alpha 3] OWGR
points
8 AprNovil CupTokushima15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Yuto Soeda (1)4
22 Apri Golf Shaper ChallengeFukuoka15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Hiroki Tanaka (1)4
27 MayTaiheiyo Club Challenge TournamentSaitama15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Taisei Yamada (1)4
10 JunLandic Challenge 9Fukuoka15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Taiko Nishiyama (1)4
17 JunJapan Create ChallengeFukuoka15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Taiga Semikawa (a) (1)4
25 JunDaisendori CupTottori18,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Shota Matsumoto (1)4
23 JulJapan Players Championship ChallengeFukui15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Chisato Takamiya (a) (1)4
29 JulMinami Akita CC Michinoku ChallengeAkita15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Takashi Ogiso (2)4
3 SepDunlop Phoenix Tournament ChallengeFukushima15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Masayuki Yamashita (a) (1)2.13
16 SepPGM ChallengeNiigata15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Yujiro Ohori (2)1.92
23 SepISPS Handa Hero ni nare! Challenge TournamentShizuoka23,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Masanori Kobayashi (3)1.98
30 SepElite Grips ChallengeHyōgo15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Takashi Ogiso (3)2.14
7 OctRyo Ishikawa Everyone Project ChallengeTochigi15,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Takuya Higa (1)1.82
14 OctDelight Works JGTO FinalIbaraki20,000,000 Flag of Japan.svg Yujiro Ohori (3)2.57

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen. [10] [11] The top 20 players on the money list earned status to play on the 2023 Japan Golf Tour. [12]

PositionPlayerPrize money (¥)
1 Flag of Japan.svg Yujiro Ohori 7,798,551
2 Flag of Japan.svg Takashi Ogiso 7,603,935
3 Flag of Japan.svg Terumichi Kakazu 6,315,737
4 Flag of Japan.svg Taiko Nishiyama 4,879,779
5 Flag of Japan.svg Shota Matsumoto 4,870,634

Notes

  1. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Japan Golf Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Japan Golf Tour members.
  2. 1 2 ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour; KOR − Korean Tour; PGAT − PGA Tour.
  3. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Japan Challenge Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Japan Challenge Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the Japan Golf Tour.

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References

  1. Smith, Ben (2 October 2022). "Japan Golf Tour releases statement about LIV Golf Invitational Series". Golfmagic. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. Flushing It [@flushingitgolf] (1 October 2022). "The Japan Golf Tour has released a statement in regard to the PGA Tour v LIV situation" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 October 2022 via Twitter.
  3. Beall, Joel (5 December 2022). "PGA Tour and DP World Tour announce alliance with Japan Golf Tour". Golf Digest. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  4. "2022 Tour Tournaments". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  5. "2022 Money Ranking". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  6. "Top-3 Japan Tour Order of Merit finishers to receive DP World Tour membership". News Nine. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. "Japan's magnificent seven on the DP World Tour competing at the ISPS Handa Championship". European Tour. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023. Along with Higa and Hoshino, Iwasaki secured his exemption to play on the DP World Tour this season by finishing as one of the top three players on the Japan Golf Tour Money List (not otherwise exempt) last year.
  8. 1 2 "Kazuki Higa tops money list and named Most Valuable Player at JGTO awards ceremony". ParGolf. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2023. Rookie Award Shimada Trophy: Yuto Katsuragawa
  9. "2022 Challenge Schedule". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  10. "2022 Challenge Money Ranking". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  11. "大堀裕次郎が最終戦を制し、逆転賞金王に輝く!" [Yujiro Ohori wins the final match and wins the comeback prize king!] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  12. "Abema Tour 2022 season tees off". Japan Golf Tour Organization. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2023. Players who finish inside the top-20 on the money list will earn their main JGTO cards in 2023.