Tomoyo Ikemura denied Riki Kawamoto a wire-to-wire victory as he staged a strong back-nine comeback to clinch the Richard Mille Charity Tournament by two shots on Sunday.
Related: Riki Kawamoto regains pole position
Ikemura fired a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 to claim his third JGTO title with his winning total of 24-under-par 264. Kawamoto, who had led for the first three rounds, settled for second place after closing with a 69.
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Tatsunori Shogenji, Yuta Kawakami and Ren Yonezawa finished tied for fourth on matching 268, while Singapore’s Nicklaus Chiam emerged as the only international player in the top 10, finishing tied-eighth after rounds of 70, 67, 66 and 67.
Starting the final round three shots behind Kawamoto, Ikemura reached the turn in 34 after picking up birdies on three and seven.
But it was on the back nine that the 29-year-old found his rhythm, igniting his charge with a birdie on 10. After steady pars on 11 and 12, he added another birdie at 13 and followed it up with an eagle on the par-five 14th.
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“After the 12th hole, around the 13th tee, I checked the leaderboard and saw that Riki Kawamoto was pulling away on his own. The final group wasn’t making much of a move—it was just Kawamoto. I thought, “He’s really enjoying his round. I was at 19-under along with Ren Yonezawa, and we were talking about how one of us might be able to challenge him. Then I started sinking more birdie putts, and the momentum shifted,” said Ikemura.
He closed with birdies on 16 and 17, then held his nerve with pars on the final two holes to secure the win, crediting his strong finish to improved stamina.
“At last year’s Japan Open, I was leading until the final day but couldn’t close it out. Since last year, it’s been a recurring issue where I’m in a good position going into the final day but can’t extend my lead. So, for the second half of the season, I started running and spoke with my trainer about incorporating aerobic workouts while monitoring my heart rate. It was all to build stamina. I think that’s really helped,” said Ikemura.
