Ernie Els is set to return to Japan for the ISPS Handa – Championship on April 20-23, and the four-time Major winner will tee it up at PGM Ishioka Golf Club as players from both the DP World Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation vie for the title in the co-sanctioned event.
Els claimed an incredible 76th worldwide victory last month, adding the Hoag Classic on the PGA Tour Champions to a stellar list of titles that includes two World Golf Championships and a record seven World Matchplay wins in addition to his Major victories at the U.S. Open in 1994 and 1997 and the Open in 2002 and 2012.
The 2019 Presidents Cup International Captain will be aiming for more success in Japan, after winning the 1993 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament at Phoenix Country Club and the 2001 World Cup of Golf at Taiheiyo Golf Club alongside fellow South African Major winner Retief Goosen.
Els will be part of an exciting field alongside 45 JGTO players and fellow ISPS Handa ambassadors including winning 2018 European Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn, four-time DP World Tour winner Rafa Cabrera Bello, and Brendan Lawlor, the current number two in the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability.
The Japanese stars aiming to win on home soil include current JGTO Order of Merit leader Shugo Imahira, the 2022 Order of Merit winner Kazuki Higa – who made his Masters debut at Augusta National last week – and the top two players from Japan on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, Masahiro Kawamura and Ryo Hisatsune.
Further international players who will travel to PGM Ishioka include DP World Tour winners Rasmus Højgaard of Denmark, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, Italian Guido Migliozzi, Antione Rozner of France, Germans Yannik Paul and Marcel Siem and European Ryder Cup Vice Captain Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium
ISPS Handa has supported events on the DP World Tour International Schedule for almost a decade, including the ISPS Handa Wales Open (2012-14 and 2020), ISPS Handa Perth International (2012-14 and 2016), ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf (2013, 2016, 2018), (ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth (2017-19), ISPA Handa Vic Open (2019-20), ISPS Handa UK Championship (2020), ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management (2021) and ISPS Handa Championship in Spain (2022).
The 2022 ISPS Handa – Championship has a US$2 million prize fund and is the first event in a three-year agreement. It is the first regular tournament in history to be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the JGTO.
