The Japan Open Golf Championship 2016 was held from October 13 to 16, at the Sayama Golf Club in Saitama. This is a national open for Men in Japan, so this is a match to decide the men’s golfer of number 1. Adam Scott of US PGA tour player took part in the tournament 3 years in a row. Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa also participated in this tournament, they and Scott were same pairing in the first and second round.

Many galleries came to the first round for watching thier pairing, so there were more than 10,000 spectators in the Sayama Golf Club. But they made all the bad score, Scott was the card of 76, Ishikawa was the card of 75, Matsuyama was the card of 71. This golf course was a par-72 course and there was the narrow fairway in many holes.

In the second round, there were about 10,000 galleries also for watching thier pairing. Matsuyama shot a 70 so he took the 8th place. Ishikawa played 67 and it was the best score in the second round, he took the 14th place. However, Scott was the card of 74 and his place was 71th, he failed a cut lose. Because his tee shot was almost out of the fairway so he suffered a long rough. Kyoung-Hoon Lee and Hyun-Wu Ryu took the 1st place after the second place.

In the third round, Ishikawa just had to be patient, but his score was 71. He was 9th place and 7 strokes behind the leader, so he was out of the race for the championship. His bad score was the influence because he could not practice for a poor physical condition before the tournament. On the other hand, Hideki Matsuyama was a good play. He made six birdies and his score was 65. So his score was 4 under, he took the first place. Yuta Ikeda and Lee were the second place and 1 stroke behind Matsuyama.

Matsuyama had his own way in the final round. He carded 4 birdies and two bogeys in the front nine, he was still maintaining a four-shot lead. He played the back nine with 1 birdie and 2 bogeys and won the Japan Open Golf Championship 2016. His score was 5 under and it was the first time for him to win the major tournament of Japan. Matsuyama got the prize money of 40 million yen. Ikeda and Lee were the second place and 3 strokes behind Matsuyama. Ishikawa was the 7th place finally.

Why was Hideki Matsuyama able to win the Japan Open Golf Championship? Because there is the US PGA tour tournament in Malaysia and China after this tournament, so it was thought that he participated in Japan tournament for the adjustment. However, he returned to Japan between the US PGA tour and practiced in the Sayama Golf Club in August. His participation for the Japan Open Golf Championship 2016 was announced in September but he had practiced before the announcement. His preparation has been led to the victory.

This youtube’s video is Matsuyama’s great shots in 2016 Players Championship. The fans hope him to play in Japan again. Matsuyama will play in the 2016 Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters tournament at Taiheiyo Club Gotenba Course in November.