The Japan Golf Tour (Japanese: 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973. As of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the European Tour. However, since the early 1990s, the growth in prize money has not kept pace with that of the two larger tours. Official events on the Japan Golf Tour count for Official World Golf Ranking points, and success on the tour can also qualify members to play in the majors.
Background
Most of the leading players on the tour are Japanese, but players from many other countries also participate. The tour is currently run by the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), which was established in 1999 to separate the tour from the PGA of Japan. The JGTO also organises a developmental tour called the Japan Challenge Tour.
Masashi Ozaki, also known as Jumbo Ozaki, was the dominant player on tour. He led the career wins list with 94, the career money list with over ¥2 billion, and the money list a record twelve times between 1973 and 1998.
Entry to The Open Championship is given to Order of Merit winner and runner-up, Japan Open Golf Championship winner, two players not already exempt from the money list up to the Japan Golf Tour Championship and the top four non-exempt players from the Mizuno Open.
In 2000, the tour signed a title sponsorship agreement with Iiyama, being renamed as the iiyama Tour. The agreement was reported to be worth ¥1,500,000,000 over three years.
In 2008, the tour ventured outside of Japan for the first time, co-sanctioning the Pine Valley Beijing Open in China, alongside the Asian Tour. In 2013, the tour also co-sanctioned two events at the beginning of the year in Thailand and Indonesia with the OneAsia Tour.
In December 2022, a new agreement involving the JGTO, PGA Tour and European Tour was announced. As part of the deal, from 2023 onwards, the top three on the Japan Golf Tour's season-ending money list earned status to play on the European Tour for the following season.
Money list winners
Multiple winners
| Rank | Player | Wins | Years won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masashi Ozaki | 12 | 1973, 1974, 1977, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 |
| T2 | Isao Aoki | 5 | 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 |
| Shingo Katayama | 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 | ||
| 4 | Tsuneyuki Nakajima | 4 | 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 |
| T5 | Shugo Imahira | 2 | 2018, 2019 |
| Toshimitsu Izawa | 2001, 2003 | ||
| Kim Kyung-tae | 2010, 2015 | ||
| Naomichi Ozaki | 1991, 1999 | ||
| Toru Taniguchi | 2002, 2007 |
Awards
Career money leaders
The table shows the top ten career money leaders on the Japan Golf Tour through the 2021 season. The figures shown include money won in the four global major championships from 1998 onwards and in the individual World Golf Championships from 1999 to 2009.
| Position | Player | Prize money (¥) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masashi Ozaki | 2,688,836,653 |
| 2 | Shingo Katayama | 2,252,278,502 |
| 3 | Tsuneyuki Nakajima | 1,664,953,541 |
| 4 | Toru Taniguchi | 1,662,207,219 |
| 5 | Naomichi Ozaki | 1,545,609,713 |
| 6 | Hiroyuki Fujita | 1,533,257,797 |
| 7 | Yuta Ikeda | 1,269,641,069 |
| 8 | Hideto Tanihara | 1,192,142,233 |
| 9 | Katsumasa Miyamoto | 1,166,981,591 |
| 10 | Brendan Jones | 1,094,192,410 |
Japan Golf Tour's website has a full list here.
Records
- Youngest winner: Ryo Ishikawa (amateur) 15 years, 238 days (Munsingwear Open KSB Cup, 2007)