Mynavi ABC Championship

Mynavi ABC Championship
Tournament information
LocationKatō, Hyōgo, Japan
Established1971
Course(s)ABC Golf Club
Par72
Length7,217 yards (6,599 m)
Tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund¥120,000,000
Month playedNovember
Final year2023
Tournament record score
Aggregate263 Ryuichi Oda (2014)
To par−24 Keita Nakajima (2023)
Final champion
Keita Nakajima
Location map
ABC GC
Location in Japan
ABC GC
Location in the Hyōgo Prefecture

The Mynavi ABC Championship (マイナビABCチャンピオンシップゴルフトーナメント, Mainabi ei-bī-shī champyon gorufu tōnamento) was a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. It was played at the ABC Golf Club in Katō, Hyōgo, usually in October or November. It was founded in 1971 as a Japan vs. United States team match (there was also individual prize money and the event counted as an official win on tour). In 1988, it became a full-field individual event. The event is sponsored by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and Mynavi Corporation.

History

The tournament was founded in 1971 as the Miki Gold Cup, a nine-man team match between golfers from Japan and the United States. Results were based on the aggregate of the best seven scores from each team after 54 holes of stroke play competition; there was also a prize for the best individual score. The event was renamed as the ABC Cup in 1972. The following year, the best eight scores were used to determine the winner, and in 1975 the event was extended to 72 holes.

Between 1982 and 1984 the event was titled as the Goldwin Cup[1] (1982–83) and the Uchida Yoko Cup (1984), during which time it was contested as stroke play matches with two points were awarded for a match win and one point for a tie. The first two rounds were played as better ball pairs and the final two rounds as singles, from which the scores were used to determine the individual winner. In 1985 the event reverted to its earlier format and name.

In 1988, the tournament became a regular 72 hole stroke play event on the Japan Golf Tour, since when it has always been held at ABC Golf Club in Katō, Hyōgo. Sponsored by Philip Morris International, it was titled using the Lark brand as the ABC Lark Cup or Lark Cup for five years, until 1994 when it became the Philip Morris Championship. After Philip Morris sponsorship came to an end, in 2003 the event became titled the ABC Championship, with Mynavi being added as title sponsor in 2008.

In 2023, following the 2024 schedule announcement by the Japan Golf Tour, it was confirmed that the 2023 tournament would be the last and would not return from 2024 onwards.[2]

Tournament hosts

Years Venue Location
1988–present ABC Golf Club Katō, Hyōgo
1983 Taiheiyo Club (Rokko Course) Hyōgo
1982, 1984 Sobhu Country Club (Sobhu Course) Inzai, Chiba
1979–1981, 1985–1987 Sports Shinko Country Club Kawanishi, Hyōgo
1976–1978 Harima Country Club Ono, Hyōgo
1975 Ibaraki Kokusai Golf Club Ibaraki, Osaka
1973–1974 Hashimoto Country Club Hashimoto, Wakayama
1972 Ikeda Country Club Ikeda, Osaka
1971 Perfect Liberty (PL) Country Club Tondabayashi, Osaka

Winners

Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
Mynavi ABC Championship
2023 Keita Nakajima 264 −24 3 strokes Shaun Norris
2022 Mikumu Horikawa 271 −17 2 strokes Hiroshi Iwata
Daijiro Izumida
Riki Kawamoto
2021 Yosuke Asaji 272 −16 2 strokes Mikumu Horikawa
Tomohiro Ishizaka
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Hwang Jung-gon 269 −19 1 stroke Shugo Imahira
2018 Yuta Kinoshita 273 −15 Playoff Masahiro Kawamura
2017 Tatsuya Kodai 203[a] −13 1 stroke Im Sung-jae
Yūsaku Miyazato
Ryutaro Nagano
2016 Shingo Katayama (4) 276 −12 1 stroke Shintaro Kobayashi
2015 Kim Kyung-tae (2) 272 −12 2 strokes Daisuke Kataoka
Won Joon Lee
Katsumasa Miyamoto
2014 Ryuichi Oda 263 −21 5 strokes Koumei Oda
Hideto Tanihara
2013 Yuta Ikeda 269 −15 Playoff Hur Suk-ho
2012 Han Lee 271 −17 1 stroke Katsumasa Miyamoto
2011 Koichiro Kawano 273 −15 Playoff Bae Sang-moon
2010 Kim Kyung-tae 275 −13 1 stroke Ryo Ishikawa
2009 Toru Suzuki 274 −14 5 strokes Takashi Kanemoto
2008 Ryo Ishikawa 279 −9 1 stroke Keiichiro Fukabori
ABC Championship
2007 Frankie Miñoza 274 −14 Playoff Lee Dong-hwan
2006 Shingo Katayama (3) 271 −17 Playoff Yang Yong-eun
2005 Shingo Katayama (2) 274 −14 2 strokes Dinesh Chand
2004 Makoto Inoue 273 −15 1 stroke Ryoken Kawagishi
Toru Suzuki
2003 Shingo Katayama 265 −23 9 strokes Katsumasa Miyamoto
Philip Morris K.K. Championship
2002 Brendan Jones 269 −19 2 strokes Toshimitsu Izawa
2001 Toshimitsu Izawa 272 −16 1 stroke Hidemichi Tanaka
Toru Taniguchi
Philip Morris Championship
2000 Toru Taniguchi 276 −12 1 stroke Hidemichi Tanaka
Shingo Katayama
1999 Ryoken Kawagishi (2) 270 −18 1 stroke Katsunori Kuwabara
1998 Masashi Ozaki (2) 275 −13 1 stroke Carlos Franco
Mitsuo Harada
1997 Brian Watts (2) 280 −8 2 strokes Kaname Yokoo
1996 Naomichi Ozaki (2) 278 −10 4 strokes Russ Cochran
David Ishii
Masashi Ozaki
1995 Hidemichi Tanaka 278 −10 1 stroke Naomichi Ozaki
Nobumitsu Yuhara
1994 Brian Watts 276 −12 1 stroke Masashi Ozaki
Naomichi Ozaki
Duffy Waldorf
Lark Cup
1993 Hajime Meshiai 283 −5 1 stroke Masahiro Kuramoto
Naomichi Ozaki
1992 Naomichi Ozaki 279 −9 1 stroke Masashi Ozaki
ABC Lark Cup
1991 Yoshikazu Yokoshima 280 −8 2 strokes Roger Mackay
1990 Ryoken Kawagishi 277 −11 2 strokes Masashi Ozaki
1989 Brian Jones 280 −8 4 strokes Toshiaki Sudo
1988 Katsunari Takahashi 277 −11 1 stroke Masashi Ozaki

Japan vs USA team matches

Year Winning team Score[b] Margin of
victory
Individual winner(s) Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Ref.
ABC Japan-U.S. Match
1987  Japan 2,227 3 strokes Andy Bean 269 −19 5 strokes Masahiro Kuramoto
1986  United States 2,229 7 strokes Curtis Strange 271 −17 4 strokes Chip Beck
1985  Japan 2,557 2 strokes Tateo Ozaki
Corey Pavin
276 −12 Title shared [3]
Uchida Yoko Cup Japan vs USA Match
1984  United States 30–18 Tom Watson (2) 135 −7 1 stroke Mark O'Meara
Naomichi Ozaki
[4]
Goldwin Cup Japan vs USA
1983  United States 29–19 Tsuneyuki Nakajima 141 −3 1 stroke Hale Irwin [5]
1982  United States 33–15 Bob Gilder
Calvin Peete
134 −10 Title shared [6]
ABC Cup Japan vs USA
1981  United States 2,246 35 strokes Bobby Clampett 271 −17 7 strokes Akira Yabe [7]
ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches
1980  Japan
 United States
2,280 Tie Jerry Pate 276 −12 1 stroke Tom Purtzer
Norio Suzuki
[8]
1979  Japan 2,306 5 strokes Tom Purtzer 276 −12 10 strokes Bill Rogers [9]
1978  Japan 2,273 53 strokes Isao Aoki (2) 273 −15 5 strokes Kosaku Shimada [10]
1977  Japan 2,079 2 strokes Isao Aoki 280 −8 2 strokes Tom Weiskopf [11]
1976  Japan 2,273 15 strokes Tom Watson 277 −11 3 strokes Isao Aoki [12]
1975  Japan 2,266 42 strokes Tōru Nakamura 273 −15 7 strokes Al Geiberger [13]
1974  United States 1,752 9 strokes Teruo Sugihara 209 −7 1 stroke Hubert Green [14]
1973  Japan 1,785 17 strokes Al Geiberger 218 +2 2 strokes Takashi Murakami [15]
1972  United States 1,488 18 strokes Tommy Aaron 209 −4 1 stroke Bert Yancey [16]
Miki Gold Cup
1971  United States 1,484 9 strokes Billy Casper
Masashi Ozaki
208 −8 Title shared [17]

Notes

  1. ^ Shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
  2. ^ Aggregate scores counting best 7 from 9 in 1971 and 1972; aggregate scores counting best 8 from 9 between 1973 and 1981, and from 1985; matches with 2 points for a win, 1 for a tie between 1982 and 1984.

References

  1. ^ "U.S. and Japan champs to collide in November". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. AP. 11 August 1982. p. C10. Retrieved 3 February 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "2024年のジャパンゴルフツアートーナメント日程を発表しました" [2024 Japan Golf Tour Tournament Dates Announced] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023. なお、今年52回と長きにわたり歴史を紡いできた「マイナビABCチャンピオンシップ(兵庫県・ABCGC)」は開催中止となりました。 [In addition, the "Mynavi ABC Championship (ABCGC, Hyogo Prefecture)", which has a long history of 52 times this year, has been canceled.]
  3. ^ "Japan golfers top Americans match". The Dispatch. Moline, Illinois. UPI. 4 November 1985. p. 18. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "U.S. golfers defeat Japan". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. 5 November 1984. p. 4-C. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Eight U.S. golfers win Goldwin Cup Championship". The Galveston Daily News. Galveston, Texas. AP. 14 November 1983. p. 4-B. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Gilder, Peete lead U.S. over Japan in team event". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. AP. 8 November 1982. p. C4. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Clampett, US easy winners". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 9 November 1981. p. 31. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Google News Archive.
  8. ^ "Pate's victory earns U.S. tie with Japan match". The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. 10 November 1980. p. Sports 2. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Japan comeback sinks U.S. linkers in dual match". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. AP. 12 November 1979. p. 4. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Aoki lifts Japan past U.S. golfers". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. AP. 13 November 1978. p. 2-7. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Golf: Aoki leads Japan to close victory over US". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 14 November 1977. p. 25. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Japanese stops U.S. in golf". The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York. AP. 6 December 1976. p. 19. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Japanese golfers whip Yanks in 5th tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 25 November 1975. p. 11. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Google News Archive.
  14. ^ "Green sparks U.S. win". Asbury Park Press. Asbury, New Jersey. Associated Press. 3 December 1974. p. C5. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Japanese defeat U.S.". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. AP. 26 November 1973. p. 46. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Aaron leads U.S. win". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. Associated Press. 6 November 1972. p. 22. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Palmer comes into his own – second". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Province Wire Services. 8 November 1971. p. 19. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.