Asian Tour Yearbook - 2022

63 A S I A P A C I F I C O P E N G O L F C H A M P I O N S H I P D I A M O N D C U P OAR AI GO LF C LUB | MAY 12-1 5, 2022 | P R IZE MON E Y ¥1 00 M I LLI ON (AP P ROX . US$75 4,460) Imahira makes major statement Diamond Cup sparkles on Asian Tour return S teeped in history, the Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup is a tournament with a difference. One of the Japan Golf Association’s (JGA) four National Championships, in 2022 the ¥100 million event not only made a nostalgic return to the Oarai Golf Club but also a welcome reappearance on the Asian Tour schedule. Due to travel restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the previous year’s event proceeded without overseas amateurs and purely as a part of the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO). The last time with Asian Tour involvement was 2019. Inaugurated as the Dunlop Tournament in 1969, the championship, which has been through various names and guises, has an enviable list of past champions, including Japanese all- time greats Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki, Tsuneyuki ‘Tommy’ Nakajima and Isao Aoki, and Major champions Peter Thomson and Todd Hamilton, a former Asian Tour Order of Merit champion. Other Asian Tour stalwarts whose names are inscribed on the winner’s trophy are Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang (2016), Thai Prayad Marksaeng (2008), American Brandt Jobe (1995), Shugo Imahira (ABOVE) with his maiden Asian Tour title. Getting into The Open by winning this week is amazing. The goal was to be a Major player rather than a prize winner. -SHUGO IMAHIRA the Chinese Taipei duo of TC Chen (1993) and Lu Hsi- chuen (1981) and legendary Filipino Ben Arda (1973). After a thrilling finish to the eighth leg of the 2022 Asian Tour at the seaside links course on the shores of the Kashima Sea, it was Shugo Imahira who added his name to that august group. In demanding conditions, Imahira drew on his wealth of experience to hold firm over the closing stretch, capturing his first Asian Tour title and a sixth success on the JGTO. While many were being blown off course, the 29-year-old eked out eight pars and a birdie over