Song Young-han Ties for 17th... Sugiura Wins as Amateur

JGTO Dunlop Phoenix Tournament FR 2 Over Par
Nakajima and Semikawa Tied 2nd, Kennedy 4th
Matsuyama 10th, Kepka 15th, Yang Jiho 49th

Song Young-han failed to enter the ‘Top 10’ for the 9th time this season.

On the 19th, he lost 2 strokes in the 4th round of the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament (total prize money 200 million yen), a ‘special event’ on the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), held at Phoenix Country Club (par 71, 7,042 yards) in Miyazaki, Japan, dropping to a tie for 17th place (2-under 282). Starting from a tie for 8th place the previous day, he made 2 birdies but also 4 bogeys. He recovered with consecutive birdies on holes 12 and 13 after consecutive bogeys on holes 10 and 11, but recorded 2 more bogeys on holes 17 and 18.

Song Young-han

Song Young-han secured his second career win on the Japanese stage last August at the Sansan KBC Augusta. This season, he ranks 5th in prize money (87.53 million yen), tied for 8th in the points race (253 points), and 4th in scoring average (70.116 strokes). Song said, “My shots were good today, but my putting was off a lot. A ball that went straight down the fairway hit a tree and rolled backward, and I ended up in a bunker without sand, so my club bounced off when I tried to hit. It was an unlucky day. I feel disappointed.”

Yuta Sugiura (Japan) shot an even-par round to claim victory by 3 strokes (12-under 272). This is the first time an amateur player has won this tournament since it began in 1974. Although Sugiura did not receive the 40 million yen winner’s prize money, he took home the Mercedes-Benz car awarded as a prize. Born in 2001 and currently attending Nihon University, Sugiura is a recognized talent who finished tied for 3rd at last year’s Japan Open. He earned his spot in this tournament by winning the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Challenge on the Japan 2nd-tier tour last September.

Keita Nakajima and Daiga Semikawa (both Japan) tied for 2nd place (9-under 275), splitting 30 million yen each. Brad Kennedy (Australia) tied for 4th (7-under 277), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) tied for 10th (5-under 279), Brooks Koepka tied for 15th (3-under 281), US Open champion Wyndham Clark (USA) tied for 37th (1-over 285), and Yang Ji-ho finished tied for 49th (4-over 288).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.