Tatsunori Shogenji denied Ryuichi Oiwa his moment of glory as he did just enough with his final round six-under-par 65 to capture his second JGTO title by one-shot at the Japan Players Championship by Satosyokuhin on Sunday.
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Fresh from his breakthrough at the season-opening Token Homemate Cup in April, the 27-year-old returned to the winner’s circle with his winning total of 23-under-par 261 at the Nishinasuno Country Club.
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Oiwa fired a 62 to finish outright second while Zimbabwean Scott Vincent signed off with a 64 to secure solo third place. Tomohiro Ishizaka, who led after the second and third rounds, had to settle for fourth place after signing for a 69.
Shogenji entered the final round one shot behind Ishizaka and he quickly made up ground by firing four birdies on holes two, four, five and eight to reach the turn in 32. He parred the next four holes before picking up two more shots on 14 and 16.
Oiwa, playing three groups ahead of Shogenji, also made a blistering start with six birdies in his front-nine. He added three more birdies on holes 11,12 and 14 to reach the clubhouse, where he could only hope for Shogenji to commit any errors to salvage any hope of a victory.
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Shogenji, however, remained steady under pressure, making pars in his closing two holes to emerge triumphant.
“Knowing Shogenji was my competitor changed everything. He’s not the type to falter on the closing holes. I expected him to finish strong. I could only control what I can do and absolutely had to make that putt on the last hole to at least force a playoff. I read the line correctly, but it just didn’t break. It was brutal,” said Oiwa.
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Shogenji, meanwhile, was elated to have crossed the finishing line with a winning performance after battling it out for 72 holes.
“I was declared the winner of the Token Homemate Cup after 54 holes because the final round was abandoned due to inclement weather. Fighting through all four rounds this week makes this win even more special. Surviving the back-nine pressure today proved I can win under any conditions,” said Shogenji.
