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Wikipedia / Mynavi ABC Championship

The 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 (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.

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 ofvictory

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

−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

Margin ofvictory

Individual winner(s)

Score

To par

Margin ofvictory

Runner(s)-up

ABC Japan-U.S. Match

1987

2,227

3 strokes

Andy Bean

269

−19

5 strokes

Masahiro Kuramoto

1986

2,229

7 strokes

Curtis Strange

271

−17

4 strokes

Chip Beck

1985

2,557

2 strokes

Tateo Ozaki Corey Pavin

276

−12

Title shared

Uchida Yoko Cup Japan vs USA Match

1984

30–18

Tom Watson (2)

135

−7

1 stroke

Mark O'Meara Naomichi Ozaki

Goldwin Cup Japan vs USA

1983

29–19

Tsuneyuki Nakajima

141

−3

1 stroke

Hale Irwin

1982

33–15

Bob Gilder Calvin Peete

134

−10

Title shared

ABC Cup Japan vs USA

1981

2,246

35 strokes

Bobby Clampett

271

−17

7 strokes

Akira Yabe

ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches

1980

2,280

Tie

Jerry Pate

276

−12

1 stroke

Tom Purtzer Norio Suzuki

1979

2,306

5 strokes

Tom Purtzer

276

−12

10 strokes

Bill Rogers

1978

2,273

53 strokes

Isao Aoki (2)

273

−15

5 strokes

Kosaku Shimada

1977

2,079

2 strokes

Isao Aoki

280

−8

2 strokes

Tom Weiskopf

1976

2,273

15 strokes

Tom Watson

277

−11

3 strokes

Isao Aoki

1975

2,266

42 strokes

Tōru Nakamura

273

−15

7 strokes

Al Geiberger

1974

1,752

9 strokes

Teruo Sugihara

209

−7

1 stroke

Hubert Green

1973

1,785

17 strokes

Al Geiberger

218

+2

2 strokes

Takashi Murakami

1972

1,488

18 strokes

Tommy Aaron

209

−4

1 stroke

Bert Yancey

Miki Gold Cup

1971

1,484

9 strokes

Billy Casper Masashi Ozaki

208

−8

Title shared

Notes

References