Kazuki Higa has been named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the 2022 JGTO season following a string of outstanding performances that saw him win four titles this year.
The 27-year-old’s successful season showed that he has come a long way since making his JGTO debut in 2018.
Related: Hideto Tanihara surprises self in come-from-behind title defence
Higa has underlined his potential in recent years by winning his first two titles at the RIZAP KBC Augusta Golf Tournament in 2019 and Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup in 2021.
But Higa took his game up a notch this year, picking up four titles and also came in top-10 on five other occasions.
It took Higa just the second start at the Kansai Open to get the ball rolling. He then kept the momentum going by winning also the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup, Shinhan Donghae Open and Dunlop Phoenix Tournament.
View this post on Instagram
He also missed out narrowly on winning the Japan Open after settling for runner-up.
At the JGTO Awards Ceremony in downtown Tokyo, Higa also claimed the four other awards by virtue of being the top finisher of the Money Rankings, where he amassed ¥181,598,825 from 25 starts, Par or Better Average, Scoring Average and Golf Media Award.
“Looking back, I feel there are events that I should have played better but overall, I am satisfied with how the season went,” said Higa.
“I think that I’m developing as a golfer each year and this year was a result of constant work through the years.
“I became much stronger mentally and I was able to control my emotions during tough moments.
“But there’s still a lot of things that I can improve on. I need to be more consistent and become able to post decent rounds even when I’m not playing particularly well.”
American Chan Kim was the sole international award recipient of the day for topping the Putting Average chart.
2022 JGTO Roll of Honour
MVP: Kazuki Higa
Money Rankings: Kazuki Higa
Mercedes-Benz Total Point Rankings: Rikuya Hoshino
Rookie Award Shimada Trophy: Yuto Katsuragawa
ABEMA Tour Money Rankings: Yujiro Ohori
Scoring Average: Kazuki Higa
Putting Average: Chan Kim
Par or Better: Kazuki Higa
Greens In Regulation: Yuto Katsuragawa
Birdie Or Better: Rikuya Hoshino
Eagles per Round: Ryo Hisatsune
Driving Distance: Riki Kawamoto
Driving Accuracy Percentage: Yuki Inamori
Sand Save: Rikuya Hoshino
Total Driving: Yuto Katsuragawa
Special Prize:Taiga Semikawa
Golf Media Award: Kazuki Higa
