Mynavi ABC Championship

(Redirected from ABC Lark Cup)

The Mynavi ABC Championship (マイナビABCチャンピオンシップゴルフトーナメント, Mainabi ei-bī-shī champyon gorufu tōnamento) 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.

Mynavi ABC Championship
Tournament information
LocationKatō, Hyōgo, Japan
Established1971
Course(s)ABC Golf Club
Par72
Length7,217 yards (6,599 m)
Tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund¥120,000,000
Month playedNovember
Final year2023
Tournament record score
Aggregate263 Ryuichi Oda (2014)
To par−24 Keita Nakajima (2023)
Final champion
Japan Keita Nakajima
Location map
ABC GC is located in Japan
ABC GC
ABC GC
Location in Japan
ABC GC is located in Hyōgo Prefecture
ABC GC
ABC GC
Location in the Hyōgo Prefecture

History

edit

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[1] (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.[2]

Tournament hosts

edit
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

edit
Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
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[a] −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

edit
Year Winning team Score[b] Margin of
victory
Individual winner(s) Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Ref.
ABC Japan-U.S. Match
1987   Japan 2,227 3 strokes   Andy Bean 269 −19 5 strokes   Masahiro Kuramoto
1986   United States 2,229 7 strokes   Curtis Strange 271 −17 4 strokes   Chip Beck
1985   Japan 2,557 2 strokes   Tateo Ozaki
  Corey Pavin
276 −12 Title shared [3]
Uchida Yoko Cup Japan vs USA Match
1984   United States 30–18   Tom Watson (2) 135 −7 1 stroke   Mark O'Meara
  Naomichi Ozaki
[4]
Goldwin Cup Japan vs USA
1983   United States 29–19   Tsuneyuki Nakajima 141 −3 1 stroke   Hale Irwin [5]
1982   United States 33–15   Bob Gilder
  Calvin Peete
134 −10 Title shared [6]
ABC Cup Japan vs USA
1981   United States 2,246 35 strokes   Bobby Clampett 271 −17 7 strokes   Akira Yabe [7]
ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches
1980   Japan
  United States
2,280 Tie   Jerry Pate 276 −12 1 stroke   Tom Purtzer
  Norio Suzuki
[8]
1979   Japan 2,306 5 strokes   Tom Purtzer 276 −12 10 strokes   Bill Rogers [9]
1978   Japan 2,273 53 strokes   Isao Aoki (2) 273 −15 5 strokes   Kosaku Shimada [10]
1977   Japan 2,079 2 strokes   Isao Aoki 280 −8 2 strokes   Tom Weiskopf [11]
1976   Japan 2,273 15 strokes   Tom Watson 277 −11 3 strokes   Isao Aoki [12]
1975   Japan 2,266 42 strokes   Tōru Nakamura 273 −15 7 strokes   Al Geiberger [13]
1974   United States 1,752 9 strokes   Teruo Sugihara 209 −7 1 stroke   Hubert Green [14]
1973   Japan 1,785 17 strokes   Al Geiberger 218 +2 2 strokes   Takashi Murakami [15]
1972   United States 1,488 18 strokes   Tommy Aaron 209 −4 1 stroke   Bert Yancey [16]
Miki Gold Cup
1971   United States 1,484 9 strokes   Billy Casper
  Masashi Ozaki
208 −8 Title shared [17]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
  2. ^ Aggregate scores counting best 7 from 9 in 1971 and 1972; aggregate scores counting best 8 from 9 between 1973 and 1981, and from 1985; matches with 2 points for a win, 1 for a tie between 1982 and 1984.

References

edit
  1. ^ "U.S. and Japan champs to collide in November". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. AP. 11 August 1982. p. C10. Retrieved 3 February 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "2024年のジャパンゴルフツアートーナメント日程を発表しました" [2024 Japan Golf Tour Tournament Dates Announced] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023. なお、今年52回と長きにわたり歴史を紡いできた「マイナビABCチャンピオンシップ(兵庫県・ABCGC)」は開催中止となりました。 [In addition, the "Mynavi ABC Championship (ABCGC, Hyogo Prefecture)", which has a long history of 52 times this year, has been canceled.]
  3. ^ "Japan golfers top Americans match". The Dispatch. Moline, Illinois. UPI. 4 November 1985. p. 18. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "U.S. golfers defeat Japan". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. 5 November 1984. p. 4-C. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Eight U.S. golfers win Goldwin Cup Championship". The Galveston Daily News. Galveston, Texas. AP. 14 November 1983. p. 4-B. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Gilder, Peete lead U.S. over Japan in team event". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. AP. 8 November 1982. p. C4. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Clampett, US easy winners". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 9 November 1981. p. 31. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Google News Archive.
  8. ^ "Pate's victory earns U.S. tie with Japan match". The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. 10 November 1980. p. Sports 2. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Japan comeback sinks U.S. linkers in dual match". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. AP. 12 November 1979. p. 4. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Aoki lifts Japan past U.S. golfers". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. AP. 13 November 1978. p. 2-7. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Golf: Aoki leads Japan to close victory over US". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 14 November 1977. p. 25. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Japanese stops U.S. in golf". The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York. AP. 6 December 1976. p. 19. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Japanese golfers whip Yanks in 5th tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 25 November 1975. p. 11. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Google News Archive.
  14. ^ "Green sparks U.S. win". Asbury Park Press. Asbury, New Jersey. Associated Press. 3 December 1974. p. C5. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Japanese defeat U.S.". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. AP. 26 November 1973. p. 46. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Aaron leads U.S. win". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. Associated Press. 6 November 1972. p. 22. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Palmer comes into his own – second". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Province Wire Services. 8 November 1971. p. 19. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
edit