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.

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 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

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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

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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

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

Source:[1]

Notes

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  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

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  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.
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