Kensei Hirata staged a dramatic comeback to win the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open and secure his maiden JGTO breakthrough after beating Keita Nakajima on the third playoff hole on Sunday.
In doing so, the Mizuno-sponsored player has etched his name into JGTO history books as the 400th first-time winner since the Tour’s inception in 1973.
The 22-year-old Hirata, who is competing in his second full season on Tour, with a tied-sixth at this year’s Kansai Open being his best finish, also earned himself a well-deserved debut at the 151st Open in July, a major championship.
“It’s really a dream come true for me. Getting my JGTO breakthrough and punching my ticket to the Open this week! I’m loss for words. When I got my Tour card last year, my goal was to get my first win this year and I did it.
“It’s not going to be easy competing in The Open, but I’m really excited to be going there in July and getting the chance to play against the world’s best players,” said Hirata.
Kensei Hirata, Keita Nakajima, Takumi Kanaya and Kazuki Yasumori qualifying for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool through the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open. Photo: The R&A
It took until the third extra hole for Hirata to upstage his more illustrious competitor Nakajima with a birdie at JFE Setonaikai Golf Club.
The pair had matching birdies in the first playoff held on the par-five 18th before tying once again with pars on their second attempt.
Trailing by five at the start of the final round, Hirata fired a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to finish the week on 17-under-par 271, propelling him from joint-fifth to the top spot.
Hirata scored a hat-trick of birdies starting from the fourth hole and picked up more shots on the ninth, 11th, and 16th.
Keita Nakajima, who was third after the penultimate stage, joined Hirata at the top after converting a clutch birdie putt on the final hole for a closing 68.
Nakajima traded five birdies against a lone bogey to claim his second Open appearance after he qualified for last year’s event as the 2021 Mark H. McCormack Medal winner. 2021
It was a day to forget for Kazuki Yasumori, the leader of the first three rounds, as he blew a glorious chance of winning his maiden JGTO title.
Yasumori squandered a two-shot lead overnight, managing only a 72 when it mattered most, trading five birdies against as many bogeys to settle for a share of third place on 16-under-par overall with Takumi Kanaya.
Yasumori could have joined the playoff, but he conceded a costly bogey on the last hole.
The 25-year-old was so devastated that he did not see the Open ticket he secured by virtue of being in the top four finishers as consolation.
“I wanted nothing more than my first victory on Tour. I will make another push at the Tour Championship next week,” he said.
Kanaya, Yasumori’s nearest challenger at the start of the day, had four birdies to offset two dropped shots, closing with a modest 70.
Kanaya will make his fourth appearance at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 20-23.
Jbe Kruger emerged as the best international performer of the week, narrowly missing the top four as he finished joint-fifth following a brilliant 64.
The South African was joined by Taiga Semikawa, the Kansai Open champion this year, who fired the low round of the day with a 63.
Leading final-round scores
271: Kensei Hirata 67-71-67-66, Keita Nakajima 67-66-70-68;
272: Takumi Kanaya 71-64-67-70, Kazuki Yasumori 63-67-70-72;
274: Taiga Semikawa 73-69-69-63, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 72-69-69-64;
276: Kosuke Suzuki 68-65-71-72;
278: Shunya Takeyasu 70-72-71-65, Taiko Nishiyama 71-69-69-69, Shugo Imahira 68-72-68-70, Daijiro Izumida 68-69-68-73.
