2022 Japan Golf Tour season
Duration31 March 2022 (2022-03-31) – 4 December 2022 (2022-12-04)
Number of official events24
Most winsJapan Kazuki Higa (4)
Money listJapan Kazuki Higa
Most Valuable PlayerJapan Kazuki Higa
Rookie of the YearJapan 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.

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]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(¥)		 Winner[a] OWGR
points		 Other
tours[b]		 Notes
3 Apr Token Homemate Cup Mie 130,000,000 Japan Jinichiro Kozuma (2) 16
17 Apr Kansai Open Golf Championship Hyōgo 80,000,000 Japan Kazuki Higa (3) 16
24 Apr ISPS Handa Championship in Japan Ibaraki 100,000,000 Japan Yuto Katsuragawa (1) 16 EUR New tournament
1 May The Crowns Aichi 100,000,000 Japan Yuki Inamori (3) 16
15 May Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup Ibaraki 100,000,000 Japan Shugo Imahira (6) 15 ASA
22 May Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament Ibaraki 50,000,000 Japan Shugo Imahira (7) 16 Pro-Am
29 May Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Okayama 80,000,000 Zimbabwe Scott Vincent (3) 16
5 Jun BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup Ibaraki 150,000,000 Japan Kazuki Higa (4) 16 Japan major
12 Jun ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament Fukuoka 100,000,000 Japan Tomoyo Ikemura (2) 16 New tournament
26 Jun Japan Players Championship Tochigi 50,000,000 Japan Yuki Inamori (4) 16
7 Aug Japan PGA Championship Shizuoka 150,000,000 Japan Mikumu Horikawa (3) 16 Japan major
21 Aug Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup Hokkaidō 120,000,000 Japan Hiroshi Iwata (4) 7.62
28 Aug Sansan KBC Augusta Fukuoka 100,000,000 Japan Riki Kawamoto (1) 8.08
4 Sep Fujisankei Classic Yamanashi 110,000,000 Japan Kaito Onishi (1) 7.29
11 Sep Shinhan Donghae Open Nara ₩1,400,000,000 Japan Kazuki Higa (5) 9.03 ASA, KOR
18 Sep ANA Open Hokkaidō 100,000,000 Japan Tomoharu Otsuki (2) 7.08
25 Sep Panasonic Open Golf Championship Hyōgo 100,000,000 Japan Taiga Semikawa (a) (1) 7.51
2 Oct Vantelin Tokai Classic Aichi 110,000,000 Japan Riki Kawamoto (2) 7.36
9 Oct For The Players by The Players Gunma 50,000,000 Japan Shintaro Kobayashi (1) 4.33 New tournament
23 Oct Japan Open Golf Championship Hyōgo 210,000,000 Japan Taiga Semikawa (a) (2) 8.57 Japan major
30 Oct Heiwa PGM Championship Ibaraki 150,000,000 Japan Rikuya Hoshino (6) 6.11
6 Nov Mynavi ABC Championship Hyōgo 120,000,000 Japan Mikumu Horikawa (4) 6.12
13 Nov Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Shizuoka 200,000,000 Japan Ryo Ishikawa (18) 6.15
20 Nov Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Miyazaki 200,000,000 Japan Kazuki Higa (6) 9.54
27 Nov Casio World Open Kōchi 200,000,000 United States Chan Kim (8) 6.73
4 Dec Golf Nippon Series JT Cup Tokyo 130,000,000 Japan Hideto Tanihara (17) 4.84 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
23 Jan SMBC Singapore Open Singapore US$1,250,000 Thailand Sadom Kaewkanjana 14 ASA
10 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$15,000,000 United States Scottie Scheffler 100 Major championship
22 May PGA Championship United States US$15,000,000 United States Justin Thomas 100 Major championship
19 Jun U.S. Open United States US$17,500,000 England Matt Fitzpatrick 100 Major championship
17 Jul The Open Championship Scotland US$14,000,000 Australia Cameron Smith 100 Major championship
16 Oct Zozo Championship Chiba US$11,000,000 United States Keegan Bradley 31.39 PGAT
11 Dec Hitachi 3Tours Championship Chiba 57,000,000 Japan Golf Tour n/a Team 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]

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

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Most Valuable Player Japan Kazuki Higa [8]
Rookie of the Year (Shimada Trophy) Japan 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 winsJapan Takashi Ogiso (2)
Japan Yujiro Ohori (2)
Money listJapan 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]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(¥)		 Winner[c] OWGR
points
8 Apr Novil Cup Tokushima 15,000,000 Japan Yuto Soeda (1) 4
22 Apr i Golf Shaper Challenge Fukuoka 15,000,000 Japan Hiroki Tanaka (1) 4
27 May Taiheiyo Club Challenge Tournament Saitama 15,000,000 Japan Taisei Yamada (1) 4
10 Jun Landic Challenge 9 Fukuoka 15,000,000 Japan Taiko Nishiyama (1) 4
17 Jun Japan Create Challenge Fukuoka 15,000,000 Japan Taiga Semikawa (a) (1) 4
25 Jun Daisendori Cup Tottori 18,000,000 Japan Shota Matsumoto (1) 4
23 Jul Japan Players Championship Challenge Fukui 15,000,000 Japan Chisato Takamiya (a) (1) 4
29 Jul Minami Akita CC Michinoku Challenge Akita 15,000,000 Japan Takashi Ogiso (2) 4
3 Sep Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Challenge Fukushima 15,000,000 Japan Masayuki Yamashita (a) (1) 2.13
16 Sep PGM Challenge Niigata 15,000,000 Japan Yujiro Ohori (2) 1.92
23 Sep ISPS Handa Hero ni nare! Challenge Tournament Shizuoka 23,000,000 Japan Masanori Kobayashi (3) 1.98
30 Sep Elite Grips Challenge Hyōgo 15,000,000 Japan Takashi Ogiso (3) 2.14
7 Oct Ryo Ishikawa Everyone Project Challenge Tochigi 15,000,000 Japan Takuya Higa (1) 1.82
14 Oct Delight Works JGTO Final Ibaraki 20,000,000 Japan 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]

Position Player Prize money (¥)
1 Japan Yujiro Ohori 7,798,551
2 Japan Takashi Ogiso 7,603,935
3 Japan Terumichi Kakazu 6,315,737
4 Japan Taiko Nishiyama 4,879,779
5 Japan 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. ^ a b 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.

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. ^ a b "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.

External links

Japan Golf Tour seasons
Categories