Eisspeedway

Mizuno Open

Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open
Tournament information
LocationKasaoka, Okayama, Japan
Established1971
Course(s)JFE Setonaikai Golf Club
Par72
Length7,461 yards (6,822 m)
Tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund¥80,000,000
Month playedMay
Tournament record score
Aggregate266 Norio Suzuki (1980)
To par−20 as above
Current champion
Japan Ryosuke Kinoshita
Location map
Setonaikai Golf Club is located in Japan
Setonaikai Golf Club
Setonaikai Golf Club
Location in Japan
Setonaikai Golf Club is located in Okayama Prefecture
Setonaikai Golf Club
Setonaikai Golf Club
Location in the Okayama Prefecture

The Mizuno Open (ミズノオープン, Mizuno ōpun) is a professional golf tournament played in Japan. Founded in 1971, it has been a Japan Golf Tour event since 1979. Since 1998, the event has been prefixed Gateway to The Open (全英への道, Zen'ei eno michi), with the top finishers gaining exemptions into The Open Championship.

The Mizuno Open has been held at several courses, most recently at Setonaikai Golf Club in Kasaoka, Okayama in 2021.

The purse for the 2021 event was ¥80,000,000, with ¥16,000,000 going to the winner.

History

The Mizuno Open was founded in 1971 as the Mizuno Tournament with both men's and women's events running side-by-side. It was restricted to golfers using at least ten Mizuno clubs. In 1979, fifty leading professionals in Japan were also eligible to compete as the tournament counted towards the Japan Golf Tour money-list ranking for the first time. In 1983 it became a full tour event and in 1985 changed its name to the Mizuno Open. From 1991, the women's event was played separately.[1]

Since 1998, the event has been prefixed "Gateway to The Open", with the top four finishers in the tournament that were not already qualified gaining exemptions into The Open Championship. There has also been a mini-money list of Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the Mizuno Open that earns two exemptions into The Open. From 2007 to 2010 The Mizuno Open merged with the Yomiuri Open to form the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic.

Tournament hosts

Years Venue Location
1998–2006, 2011–2017, 2021 Setonaikai Golf Club Kasaoka, Okayama
2018–2019 The Royal Golf Club Hokota, Ibaraki
2007–2010 Yomiuri Country Club Nishinomiya, Hyōgo
1976–1997 Tokinodai Country Club Hakui, Ishikawa
1971–1975 Anegasaki Country Club Ichihara, Chiba

Winners

Year Winner Score To Par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Ref.
Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open
2024 Japan Ryosuke Kinoshita 276 −12 2 strokes South Korea Koh Gun-taek [2]
2023 Japan Kensei Hirata 271 −17 Playoff Japan Keita Nakajima [3]
2022 Zimbabwe Scott Vincent 276 −12 Playoff Australia Anthony Quayle [4]
2021 Philippines Juvic Pagunsan 199[a] −17 3 strokes Japan Ryutaro Nagano [5]
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Japan Yuta Ikeda 281 −7 1 stroke United States Chan Kim [6]
2018 Japan Shota Akiyoshi 287 −1 1 stroke New Zealand Michael Hendry
Japan Masahiro Kawamura
Japan Masanori Kobayashi
[7]
2017 United States Chan Kim 273 −15 5 strokes New Zealand Michael Hendry [8]
2016 South Korea Kim Kyung-tae 277 −11 1 stroke Japan Kodai Ichihara
Japan Shugo Imahira
South Korea Lee Sang-hee
[9]
2015 Japan Taichi Teshima 273 −15 2 strokes Australia Scott Strange [10]
2014 South Korea Jang Dong-kyu 273 −15 3 strokes Philippines Juvic Pagunsan [11]
2013 Australia Brendan Jones (2) 269 −19 3 strokes South Korea Kim Kyung-tae [12]
2012 Australia Brad Kennedy 271 −17 3 strokes Japan Toshinori Muto
Japan Toru Taniguchi
[13]
2011 South Korea Hwang Jung-gon 275 −13 1 stroke South Korea Kim Kyung-tae [14]
Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic
2010 Japan Shunsuke Sonoda 201[a] −15 3 strokes Japan Toru Taniguchi [15]
2009 Japan Ryo Ishikawa 275 −13 3 strokes New Zealand David Smail [16]
2008 Thailand Prayad Marksaeng 269 −15 1 stroke Japan Azuma Yano [17]
2007 South Korea Lee Dong-hwan 204[b] −12 4 strokes South Korea Lee Seong-ho
Taiwan Lin Keng-chi
Japan Toshinori Muto
Japan Achi Sato
Japan Hideto Tanihara
Japan Masaya Tomida
Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open
2006 South Korea Hur Suk-ho 274 −14 3 strokes Japan Tatsuhiko Ichihara
New Zealand David Smail
2005 Australia Chris Campbell 278 −10 Playoff New Zealand David Smail
Japan Tadahiro Takayama
2004 Australia Brendan Jones 274 −14 Playoff Japan Hiroaki Iijima
2003 United States Todd Hamilton 278 −10 1 stroke Australia Brendan Jones
2002 United States Dean Wilson 277 −11 1 stroke Japan Kiyoshi Miyazato
2001 Japan Hidemichi Tanaka 272 −16 3 strokes Colombia Eduardo Herrera
2000 Japan Yasuharu Imano 274 −14 1 stroke Japan Toshimitsu Izawa
Japan Katsumasa Miyamoto
1999 Colombia Eduardo Herrera 274 −14 2 strokes Japan Tsukasa Watanabe
1998 United States Brandt Jobe 275 −13 4 strokes Japan Yoshi Mizumaki
Japan Toru Suzuki
Mizuno Open
1997 United States Brian Watts (3) 278 −10 2 strokes Japan Toshimitsu Izawa
1996 Japan Yoshinori Kaneko 270 −18 4 strokes Japan Shinichi Yokota
1995 United States Brian Watts (2) 273 −15 3 strokes Canada Rick Gibson
1994 United States Brian Watts 280 −8 Playoff Colombia Eduardo Herrera
Japan Yoshinori Kaneko
Japan Koichi Suzuki
1993 Japan Seiki Okuda 280 −8 1 stroke Australia Wayne Grady
Japan Tateo Ozaki
Japan Teruo Sugihara
1992 Japan Tōru Nakamura 282 −6 1 stroke Japan Saburo Fujiki
Australia Brian Jones
1991 Australia Roger Mackay 207[a] −9 Playoff Japan Satoshi Higashi
1990 Australia Brian Jones 272 −16 4 strokes Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima
1989 Japan Akiyoshi Ohmachi 283 −5 2 strokes Australia Brian Jones
Japan Fujio Kobayashi
Japan Masahiro Kuramoto
Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima
1988 Japan Yoshimi Niizeki 280 −8 Playoff Japan Seiichi Kanai
1987 United States David Ishii 272 −16 8 strokes Taiwan Chen Tze-ming
Japan Tōru Nakamura
1986 Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima 239[c] −11 6 strokes Japan Tsukasa Watanabe
1985 Japan Tateo Ozaki
Japan Katsunari Takahashi
205[a] −11 Title shared
Mizuno Tournament
1984 Japan Kikuo Arai (2) 279 −9 1 stroke Japan Naomichi Ozaki [18]
1983 Japan Eitaro Deguchi 277 −11 3 strokes Taiwan Hsieh Min-Nan
Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima
Japan Shigeru Uchida
1982 Japan Teruo Sugihara 282 −6
1981 Japan Kikuo Arai 274 −12 2 strokes Japan Shigeru Uchida [19]
1980 Japan Norio Suzuki 266 −20 6 strokes Japan Yoshikazu Yokoshima [20]
1979 Japan Mitsuhiro Kitta 272 −16 2 strokes Japan Teruo Sugihara
Japan Ichiro Teramoto
1978 Japan Akio Kanemoto 276 −12 1 stroke Japan Shigeru Uchida
1977 Japan Masaji Kusakabe (2) 283 −5 Playoff Japan Shigeru Uchida
1976 Japan Masaji Kusakabe 215 −6 2 strokes South Korea Han Chang-sang
Japan Shigeru Uchida
Japan Takemitsu Uranishi
Japan Yuki Watanabe
1975 Japan Shigeru Uchida (2) 215 −1 3 strokes Japan Takashi Aoki
1974 Japan Shigeru Uchida 210 −6 1 stroke Japan Shichiro Enomoto
1973 Japan Shichiro Enomoto 208 −8 3 strokes Japan Akio Kanemoto
1972 Japan Kazuo Yoshikawa
1971 Japan Makoto Yamaguchi 214 −2 2 strokes Japan Shichiro Enomoto

Source:[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Shortened to 54 holes due to rain.
  2. ^ Shortened to 54 holes due to fog.
  3. ^ Shortened to 63 holes due to rain.

References

  1. ^ a b "ミズノオープンの歴史" [History of the Mizuno Open] (in Japanese). Mizuno Open. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Mizuno Open / Kinoshita, Koh and Katsuragawa qualify for Troon". The Open. The R&A. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Four Japanese players qualify at Mizuno Open". The Open. The R&A. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Quayle loses playoff on Japan Golf Tour". Hawkesbury Gazette. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  5. ^ Stafford, Ali (30 May 2021). "The 149th Open: Juvic Pagunsan wins Mizuno Open, carrying only 11 clubs, to secure major place". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  6. ^ "The Open: Yuta Ikea secures spot at Royal Portrush with Mizuno Open win". Sky Sports. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Akiyoshi wins Mizuno Open to qualify for British Open". ESPN. Associated Press. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Chan Kim wins Mizuno Open to qualify for British Open". Sports Illustrated. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  9. ^ Prendergast, Paul (30 May 2016). "KT Kim's wild ride continues at Mizuno Open". Golf Grinder. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Teshima wins Mizuno Open to qualify for St Andrews". Mizuno Golf. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Jang Dong-kyu wins Mizuno Open". ESPN. Associated Press. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Brendan Jones wins Mizuno Open". ESPN. Associated Press. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Brad Kennedy to play British Open". ESPN. Associated Press. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Hwang nabs first JGTO title with win at Mizuno". Golfweek. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  15. ^ Deleon, Steven (5 April 2012). "Sonoda's Mizuno Win Earns Open Start". Sooper Articles. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Ishikawa wins Mizuno to qualify for British Open". The Augusta Chronicle. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Prayad earns British Open ticket with Japan win". ABS-CBN News. 23 June 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Arai wins Mizuno golf". Winona Daily News. Winona, Minnesota. AP. 25 June 1984. p. 16. Retrieved 30 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Veteran arai breaks nine-year lean spell". The Straits Times. AP. 11 August 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 30 January 2021 – via National Library Board (Singapore).
  20. ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1981). Dunhill World of Professional Golf 1981. Collins. pp. 178, 392. ISBN 0862540054.