DP World Tour : ISPS Handa Championship : Results
Yuto Katsuragawa continued a history-making season for players from Japan on the DP World Tour with a three-shot victory on home soil at the ISPS HANDA - CHAMPIONSHIP.
The local favourite entered the final day at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course three shots off the lead but was right in the mix at the turn as many of the leading players stumbled.
Sebastian Söderberg was the only one keeping pace with him but the 25-year-old started the back nine with five birdies in seven holes to leave the Swede in his wake and finish at 17 under after a course-record equalling 63.
Söderberg carded a 67 to be the nearest challenger but all the headlines belonged to Katsuragawa, who made it back-to-back Japanese wins in regular DP World Tour events for the first time after Keita Nakajima's victory at the Hero Indian Open.
Isao Aoki was the first Japanese winner in DP World Tour history at the 1983 European Open but we had to wait 33 years for another when Hideki Matsuyama lifted the trophy at the 2016 WGC-HSBC Champions.
Matsuyama would lift another World Golf Championships title the following year before his monumental Masters Tournament victory in 2021 made it four all-time Japanese wins on the DP World Tour.
Katsuragawa admits that he drew inspiration from the recent success of his compatriots. "Looking at them winning in Europe definitely motivated me," he said. "This tournament was held in Japan on a familiar course but I have not experienced winning abroad yet. I aim to win on a bigger stage internationally."
He is now set to take up DP World Tour membership and will enter the top 25 on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, with a long-term goal of achieving dual membership with the PGA TOUR.
"I have been practising a lot to stand on the big stage," he said. "I can now go on the DP World Tour which is really great and I'm really happy with it. I'm aiming to become a member of the PGA TOUR in the future.
A runner-up finish for Söderberg moved him to the top of Asian Swing Rankings and should he stay there after next week's Volvo China Open, he will win $200,000 and gain entry to the Back Nine events, while also guaranteeing his place at the Genesis Scottish Open. Those who finish in positions one to three will also be exempt into the U.S. PGA Championship.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Spaniard Ivan Cantero, Japan's Ryosuke Kinoshita and German Marcel Schneider finished at 12 under, a shot clear of home duo Masahiro Kawamura and Yuta Sugiura, Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin and Frenchman Tom Vaillant.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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