2018 Japan Golf Tour
Golf tour season
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The 2018 Japan Golf Tour was the 46th season of the Japan Golf Tour (formerly the PGA of Japan Tour), the main professional golf tour in Japan since it was formed in 1973.
Kodai Ichihara (2) Shugo Imahira| Duration | 18 January 2018 – 2 December 2018 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 24[a] |
| Most wins | Kodai Ichihara (2) |
| Money list | Shugo Imahira |
| Most Valuable Player | Shugo Imahira |
| Rookie of the Year | Rikuya Hoshino |
← 2017 2019 → | |
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2018 season.[1]
Unofficial events
The following events were sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (¥) | Winner(s) | OWGR points | Other tours[c] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$11,000,000 |  Patrick Reed | 100 | Major championship | |
| 6 May | Legend Charity Pro-Am | Chiba | 50,000,000 | Shugo Imahira | n/a | Pro-Am | |
| 17 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$12,000,000 | Brooks Koepka | 100 | Major championship | |
| 22 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | US$10,500,000 |  Francesco Molinari | 100 | Major championship | |
| 12 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$11,000,000 | Brooks Koepka | 100 | Major championship | |
| 9 Dec | Hitachi 3Tours Championship | Chiba | 57,000,000 | Japan PGA Senior Tour | n/a | Team event |
Money list
The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.[3][4]
| Position | Player | Prize money (¥) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shugo Imahira | 139,119,332 |
| 2 |  Shaun Norris | 103,942,450 |
| 3 | Yuki Inamori | 85,301,742 |
| 4 | Kodai Ichihara | 82,245,918 |
| 5 | Yuta Ikeda | 79,671,825 |
Awards
Japan Challenge Tour
| Duration | 30 March 2018 – 26 October 2018 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 12 |
| Most wins | Taihei Sato (2) |
| Money list | Taihei Sato |
← 2017 2019 → | |
The 2018 Japan Challenge Tour, titled as the 2018 AbemaTV Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 34th season of the Japan Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the Japan Golf Tour.
AbemaTV title sponsorship
In January, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with AbemaTV, being renamed as the AbemaTV Tour.[6]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2018 season.[7]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (¥) | Winner[g] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr | Novil Cup | Tokushima | 15,000,000 |  Park Bae-jong (1) |
| 20 Apr | i Golf Shaper Challenge | Fukuoka | 15,000,000 | Naoto Takayanagi (1) |
| 27 Apr | Japan Create Challenge | Fukuoka | 15,000,000 | Shoji Kawai (1) |
| 18 May | Heiwa PGM Challenge I Road to Championship | Ibaraki | 15,000,000 | Keisuke Kondo (1) |
| 8 Jun | ISPS Handa Challenge Cup | Chiba | 20,000,000 | Ryosuke Kinoshita (1) |
| 22 Jun | Landic Challenge | Fukuoka | 15,000,000 | Taihei Sato (1) |
| 29 Jun | Minami Akita CC Michinoku Challenge | Akita | 15,000,000 | Kazuki Higa (1) |
| 14 Sep | Heiwa PGM Challenge II Road to Championship | Tottori | 15,000,000 | Dodge Kemmer (1) |
| 21 Sep | Elite Grips Challenge | Hyōgo | 15,000,000 | Taihei Sato (2) |
| 6 Oct | Ryo Ishikawa Everyone Project Challenge | Tochigi | 15,000,000 | Taiji Maekawa (1) |
| 19 Oct | Taiheiyo Club Challenge Tournament | Saitama | 15,000,000 | Tomohiro Umeyama (2) |
| 26 Oct | JGTO Novil Final | Ibaraki | 15,000,000 | Yuki Kono (3) |
Money list
The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.[8][9] The top 20 players on the money list earned status to play on the 2019 Japan Golf Tour.[10]
| Position | Player | Prize money (¥) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taihei Sato | 7,256,163 |
| 2 | Tomohiro Umeyama | 5,338,803 |
| 3 | Naoto Takayanagi | 4,813,256 |
| 4 | Ryosuke Kinoshita | 4,251,987 |
| 5 | Takaya Onoda | 3,736,339 |
Notes
- One further tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
- The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Japan Golf Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Japan Golf Tour members.
- ASA − Asian Tour.
- First two rounds played in July.
- Cancelled due to the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake.[2]
- Also a Japan major championship.
- The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Japan Challenge Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Japan Challenge Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the Japan Golf Tour.