Veteran Hideto Tanihara defeated young gun Taiga Nagano in a playoff to win Japan Players Championship by Sato Syokuhin on Sunday.
Tanihara, 44, claimed his 18th JGTO title at the first extra hole with a par at Nishi Nasuno Country Club after he and Nagano ended the regulation play with closing rounds of 66 and 68 respectively for a matching total of 24-under-par 264.
Tanihara had looked on as the 20-year-old Nagano, who was competing in the final pairing, missed his birdie putt from about three feet that could have won him the tournament outright.
When the pair returned to the par-four 18th to decide on the title, Nagano handed Tanihara the upper hand by hitting into the trees.
Tanihara, who won two of his previous four playoff duels, landed his second shot to about 10 feet and had the luxury of two-putting to seal the win.
With the latest victory, Tanihara, who last won at the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in December last year, has now moved to tied-12th in the list of players with the most Tour titles.
“Nagano was competing in the playoff for the first time and I guess my experience gave me the advantage. I kept my composure, and it helped that I was striking the ball and putting well all week. It’s good to see the next generation of golfers coming up and will be exciting to see how they develop into world-class players from here,” said Tanihara.
Japan’s Taiga Nagano. Photo credit: JGTOimages
Nagano was left in disbelief after squandering arguably his best chance yet to secure his JGTO breakthrough since turning professional in November 2021.
“It was a waste and mortifying,” said a dejected Nagano.
“It’s really frustrating that I couldn’t make the chance count.
But Nagano believes he can only get stronger through this invaluable experience.
“I was able to fight for the championship this week, and I was able to fight against Keita Nakajima in the final round, which gave me confidence,” said Nagano.
“Tanihara-san told me that I could win again next time.
“While I’m aware of Tanihara’s putting prowess, I thought his ball-striking is also amazing too.”
Meanwhile, a double bogey in as early as the fifth hole put paid to Nakajima’s hopes of fighting for his second win in three weeks.
His closing 70 saw him settle for joint runner-up with Yuta Uetake (66) and Tomoharu Otsuki (66) on 22-under-par 266.
Riki Kawamoto shot a 69 to finish in lone sixth on 267, while Philippines’ Justin De Los Santos, who co-led the halfway stage, finished a creditable tied 10th after carding a 68 for 270.
“I’ve been playing well since the first day with the rain, but unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way I was hoping for. I didn’t have a good third day obviously, but a top 10 wasn’t too bad I guess,” said De Los Santos, who emerged as the best international finisher along with Han Lee of the United States.
Leading final round scores:
264: Hideto Tanihara 67-65-66-66, Taiga Nagano 69-60-67-68;
266: Yuta Uetake 67-67-66-66, Tomoharu Otsuki 65-68-67-66, Keita Nakajima 68-63-65-70;
267: Riki Kawamoto 64-68-66-69;
268: Taihei Sato 71-64-68-65, Taisei Shimizu 68-68-64-68;
269: Tatsunori Shogenji 74-63-68-64;
270: Yuwa Kosaihira 75-64-65-66, Sejung Hiramoto 69-65-70-66, Yuto Katsumata 72-68-63-67, Yuki Inamori 68-69-66-67, Daisuke Yasumoto 73-65-65-67, Yosuke Asaji 67-67-68-68, Justin De Los Santos (Phi) 66-63-73-68, Eric Sugimoto 64-68-69-69, Han Lee (US) 67-67-64-72.
