2019 Japan Golf Tour

2019 Japan Golf Tour season
Duration17 January 2019 (2019-01-17) – 8 December 2019 (2019-12-08)
Number of official events25
Most winsJapan Ryo Ishikawa (3)
Money listJapan Shugo Imahira
Most Valuable PlayerJapan Shugo Imahira
Rookie of the YearThailand Jazz Janewattananond
← 2018

The 2019 Japan Golf Tour was the 47th 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.

Changes for 2019

The Shinhan Donghae Open was added to the schedule and was co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korean Tour. Additionally, a new tournament that was to be played in Japan as part of the 2019–20 PGA Tour season; the Zozo Championship was also added to the schedule as a co-sanctioned event between the Japan Golf Tour and the PGA Tour.[1]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2019 season.[2]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(¥)		 Winner[a] OWGR
points		 Other
tours[b]		 Notes
20 Jan SMBC Singapore Open Singapore US$1,000,000 Thailand Jazz Janewattananond (1) 24 ASA
21 Apr Token Homemate Cup Mie 130,000,000 Australia Brendan Jones (15) 16
5 May The Crowns Aichi 120,000,000 Japan Katsumasa Miyamoto (12) 16
12 May Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup Golf Chiba 150,000,000 Japan Yosuke Asaji (1) 15 ASA
26 May Kansai Open Golf Championship Nara 70,000,000 Japan Tomoharu Otsuki (1) 16
2 Jun Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Ibaraki 100,000,000 Japan Yuta Ikeda (21) 16
9 Jun Japan Golf Tour Championship
Mori Building Cup Shishido Hills		 Ibaraki 150,000,000 Japan Mikumu Horikawa (1) 16 Japan major
30 Jun Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open Fukushima 50,000,000 Japan Rikuya Hoshino (2) 16
7 Jul Japan PGA Championship Kagoshima 150,000,000 Japan Ryo Ishikawa (15) 16 Japan major
25 Aug Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup Hokkaido 150,000,000 Japan Ryo Ishikawa (16) 16
1 Sep RIZAP KBC Augusta Fukuoka 100,000,000 Japan Kazuki Higa (1) 16
8 Sep Fujisankei Classic Yamanashi 110,000,000 South Korea Park Sang-hyun (2) 16
15 Sep ANA Open Hokkaido 110,000,000 Japan Yosuke Asaji (2) 16
22 Sep Shinhan Donghae Open South Korea ₩1,200,000,000 South Africa Jbe' Kruger (1) 14 ASA, KOR New to Japan Golf Tour
29 Sep Panasonic Open Golf Championship Hyōgo 150,000,000 Japan Toshinori Muto (7) 15 ASA
6 Oct Tokai Classic Aichi 110,000,000 South Africa Shaun Norris (4) 16
13 Oct Bridgestone Open Chiba 150,000,000 Japan Shugo Imahira (3) 16
20 Oct Japan Open Golf Championship Fukuoka 210,000,000 United States Chan Kim (4) 32 Flagship event[c]
28 Oct Zozo Championship Chiba US$9,750,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 64 PGAT New limited-field event
3 Nov Mynavi ABC Championship Hyōgo 150,000,000 South Korea Hwang Jung-gon (4) 16
10 Nov Heiwa PGM Championship Okinawa 200,000,000 South Korea Choi Ho-sung (3) 16
17 Nov Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Shizuoka 200,000,000 Japan Takumi Kanaya (a) (1) 16
24 Nov Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Miyazaki 200,000,000 Japan Shugo Imahira (4) 26
1 Dec Casio World Open Kōchi 200,000,000 South Korea Kim Kyung-tae (14) 19
8 Dec Golf Nippon Series JT Cup Tokyo 130,000,000 Japan Ryo Ishikawa (17) 19 Japan major

Unofficial events

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

Date Tournament Location Purse
(¥)		 Winner(s) OWGR
points		 Other
tours[b]		 Notes
14 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$11,500,000 United States Tiger Woods 100 Major championship
19 May PGA Championship United States US$11,000,000 United States Brooks Koepka 100 Major championship
16 Jun U.S. Open United States US$12,500,000 United States Gary Woodland 100 Major championship
21 Jul The Open Championship Northern Ireland US$10,750,000 Republic of Ireland Shane Lowry 100 Major championship
15 Dec Hitachi 3Tours Championship Chiba 57,000,000 LPGA of Japan Tour n/a Team event

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.[3][4]

Position Player Prize money (¥)
1 Japan Shugo Imahira 168,049,312
2 South Africa Shaun Norris 145,044,149
3 Japan Ryo Ishikawa 132,812,990
4 United States Chan Kim 95,880,318
5 South Korea Hwang Jung-gon 94,985,827

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Most Valuable Player Japan Shugo Imahira [5]
Rookie of the Year (Shimada Trophy) Thailand Jazz Janewattananond [5]

Japan Challenge Tour

2019 Japan Challenge Tour season
Duration5 April 2019 (2019-04-05) – 25 October 2019 (2019-10-25)
Number of official events15
Most winsSouth Korea Todd Baek (2)
Japan Yoshikazu Haku (2)
South Korea Ham Jeong-woo (2)
South Korea Park Jun-won (2)
Money listJapan Yoshikazu Haku
← 2018

The 2019 Japan Challenge Tour, titled as the 2019 AbemaTV Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 35th season of the Japan Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the Japan Golf Tour.

OWGR inclusion

In July 2018, it was announced that all Japan Challenge Tour events, beginning in 2019, would receive Official World Golf Ranking points at the minimum level of 4 points for the winner of a 54-hole event.[6]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2019 season.[7]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(¥)		 Winner[d] OWGR
points
7 Apr Novil Cup Tokushima 15,000,000 South Korea Park Jun-won (1) 4
19 Apr i Golf Shaper Challenge Fukuoka 15,000,000 Thailand Danthai Boonma (1) 7
26 Apr Japan Create Challenge Fukuoka 15,000,000 Philippines Justin De Los Santos (1) 7
17 May Heiwa PGM Challenge I Road To Championship Ibaraki 15,000,000 South Korea Kim Seong-hyeon (1) 7
31 May Taiheiyo Club Challenge Tournament Saitama 15,000,000 Japan Yoshikazu Haku (1) 4
14 Jun Landic Challenge 7 Fukuoka 15,000,000 Zimbabwe Scott Vincent (1) 7
21 Jun Minami Akita CC Michinoku Challenge Akita 15,000,000 South Korea Park Jun-won (2) 4
29 Jun Daisendori Cup Tottori 16,000,000 Japan Eric Sugimoto (1) 4
3 Aug TI Challenge Hyōgo 15,000,000 South Korea Ham Jeong-woo (1) 4
13 Sep Delight Works ASP Challenge Tochigi 15,000,000 South Korea Ham Jeong-woo (2) 4
20 Sep Heiwa PGM Challenge II Road To Championship Saga 15,000,000 South Korea Todd Baek (1) 4
27 Sep Elite Grips Challenge Hyōgo 15,000,000 Greece Peter Karmis (1) 4
4 Oct Toshin Challenge Shiga 15,000,000 South Korea Todd Baek (2) 4
11 Oct Ryo Ishikawa Everyone Project Challenge Tochigi 15,000,000 Japan Taiga Sugihara (a) (1) 4
25 Oct JGTO Novil Final Ibaraki 15,000,000 Japan Yoshikazu Haku (2) 4

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.[8][9] The top 20 players on the money list earned status to play on the 2020–21 Japan Golf Tour.[10]

Position Player Prize money (¥)
1 Japan Yoshikazu Haku 6,797,444
2 South Korea Todd Baek 6,560,781
3 Japan Eric Sugimoto 6,462,858
4 South Korea Park Jun-won 6,280,270
5 South Korea Ham Jeong-woo 5,400,000

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. ^ a b ASA − Asian Tour; KOR − Korean Tour; PGAT − PGA Tour.
  3. ^ Also a Japan major championship.
  4. ^ 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.

References

  1. ^ "First annual, official Tour event in Japan The Zozo Championship will debut October 2019". PGA Tour. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  2. ^ "2019 Tour Tournaments". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  3. ^ "2019 Money Rankings". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  4. ^ "今平周吾が４冠" [Shuga Imahira won 4 crowns] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b "部門別ランキング賞、受賞者とスポンサー一覧" [List of ranking awards by category, winners and sponsors] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2023. 最優秀選手賞　今平周吾... 最優秀新人賞　島田トロフィ　ジャズ・ジェーンワタナノンド [Most Valuable Player Award: Shugo Imahira... Best Newcomer Award Shimada Trophy: Jazz Janewattananond]
  6. ^ "Board Announcement". Official World Golf Ranking. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2022. The Abema TV Tour will be introduced to the OWGR at minimum points levels of 4 first place points for its tournaments that are played over 54 holes.
  7. ^ "2019 Challenge Schedule". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  8. ^ "2019 Challenge Money Ranking". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  9. ^ "白佳和が今季２勝目を飾り逆転賞金王に輝く！" [Yoshikazu Haku wins his second win of the season and is crowned the comeback prize king!] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  10. ^ "ホームコースで意地を見せた北川祐生がギリギリ滑り込み" [Yuki Kitagawa, who showed his will on the home course, slipped in at the last minute.] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2023. 上位20名が来季のツアートーナメントの出場権を得るわけだが [The top 20 players will qualify for next season's Tour tournaments...]