Yuto Katsuragawa held on brilliantly after a topsy-turvy round to win his maiden JGTO title by one shot from Rikuya Hoshino at the ISPS HANDA Championship.
Katsuragawa had his three-shot advantage cancelled out by Hoshino at one point but held his nerve to restore his lead with a birdie on the 17 at the PGM Ishioka Golf Club.
A 65 was enough for Katsuragawa to narrowly pip Hoshino and redeem himself after finishing runner-up twice at the SMBC Singapore Open in January and at the Token Homemate Cup.
As for Hoshino, it was so close yet so far for him again. After coming in third at the Token Homemate Cup, he lost by one shot to Kazuki Higa in the closely-fought battle at the Kansai Open Golf Championship last week.
“It feels great to have finally won my first tournament after several runner-up finishes. Being an ISPS sponsored player and winning at their event is an added bonus! With this maiden victory, I’m looking forward to challenging for more honours either in Japan or overseas,” said a jubilant Katsuragawa.
Australia’s Anthony Quayle did walk the talk in staging a late charge on the final day of the tournament.
The 27-year-old turned in a spirited display to close with a six-under-par 65 after marking his scorecard with an eagle, seven birdies and three bogeys.
Although he eventually came up short, finishing five shots behind winner Yuto Katsuragawa, Quayle’s superb effort still helped him finish a commendable tied sixth placing, the sixth top-10 outing of his JGTO career.
Quayle emerged as the joint-leading international finishers on 19-under-par 265 total alongside Justin De Los Santos of the Philippines.
De Los Santos, who co-led by one overnight with Katsuragawa, had to wait longer for a JGTO breakthrough after he could only muster a 70 on the final day.
Shaun Norris of South Africa and Michael Hendry of New Zealand made it four international finishers in the top 10 after the duo finished on matching 266s, one shot ahead of Hyun Woo Ryu of South Korea.
Brad Kennedy of Australia and Thailand’s Thanyakon Khrongpha posted matching 67s to come in joint 16th and 21st, respectively.
