The DP Tour returns after a nearly month-long hiatus (Masters not included) for the is the third edition of the ISPS Handa Championship.
2023/2024 DP World Tour/ Japan Golf Tour
ISPS Handa Championship
Taiheiyo Club
25 – 28 April
The DP Tour returns after a nearly month-long hiatus (Masters not included). This is the third edition of the ISPS Handa Championship but it will only be the second time that it is a full DP World Tour event. It was created in 2022 and was intended to be a co-sanctioned affair between the DP World Tour and the Japan Golf Tour.
But Covid-related travel restrictions forced the organisers to downgrade it to a sole-sanctioned Japan Golf Tour event in 2022. That means that this will be just the second edition of this event as a DP World Tour entity.
And it has some act to follow, with Lucas Herbert holding on for a memorable playoff victory over Aaron Cockerill last year. If you can remember, Herbert endured a nightmarish travel schedule that saw him arrive one day before the start of the event.
But the enormously talented Herbert persevered to secure his third career DP World Tour title. This year’s event moves from PGM Oshioka in Omitama to the Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba.
PGM Oshioka
Originally designed by Shunsuke Sato in 1976, the Gotemba Course underwent a major facelift in 2018 with Rees Jones and Bryce Swanson collaborating to bring the course kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
The tree-lined parkland layout was transformed from a pretty agreeable par 72 into an intimidating par 70 (there will only be two par 5s this week). The two previous par 5s will now play as monster par 4s that measure over 500 yards a pop. All the tees were rebuilt and the course was significantly lengthened.
Features such as ponds and bunkers were also reconfigured. All of this has led to much more difficult scoring conditions. Japanese legend Hideki Matsuyama once won here with a score of 23-under-par.
However, three of the last four winners won with single-digit scores under par. Stats seem to suggest that GIR and Scrambling will be crucial this week. There are plenty of runoff areas around these greens and players will require accurate approach play to have makeable birdie putts.
But I think Driving Distance could come to the fore this year. There is heavy rain expected on Wednesday and that could put more of an onus on carry through the air. Still, GIR and Scrambling are still the principal bellwethers of success here.
I might also look for players who have tasted success around tree-lined venues such as Valderrama and Wenworth.
The Contenders
With no US PGA Tour event this week, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Matthieu Pavon have both opted to travel to Japan to keep themselves busy. Bezuidenhout has been a top 30 machine this year and he also finished runner-up at the American Express.
Pavon won at Torrey Pines and he recently finished in a tie for 12th at the Masters. The pair bring a tiny sprinkle of razzmatazz to what is a pretty humdrum field (surprise, surprise).
Home favourite Keita Nakajima is fresh off a comprehensive maiden DP Tour win in India and he will no doubt enjoy plenty of enthusiastic support out there. Elsewhere, the likes of Jordan Smith and Ewen Ferguson lead a strong British contingent.
Sure, this may not be the glitziest event out there. But the stunning backdrop of Mount Fuji will probably make it one of the most aesthetically pleasing events you will see all year.
Past Winners
2023: Lucas Herbert (-15) *playoff
2022: Yuto Katsuragawa (-24) *Japan Golf Tour
To Win Outright:
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 12/1 | Matthieu Pavon 14/1 | Kieta Nakajima 16/1 | Jordan Smith 20/1 | Takumi Kanaya 20/1
Value Bets
Bernd Wiesberger- To Win 35/1 | To Place 15/2
Austrian Bernd Wiesberger has looked pretty solid since returning to regular tour action and he could be a real threat this week. The multiple Rolex Series champion already has 16th-place finishes in Bahrain and Singapore this season. He missed the cut last time out on an admittedly quirky setup at the Indian Open. But this layout will put a premium on strong approach play and Wiesberger currently ranks second on tour for GIR. He also ranks second around-the-greens (which will come in handy with these tricky runoff areas). He has won in China and Korea and I think he has a shot of adding Japan to that Asian winning roster.
Haotong Li- To Win 80/1 | To Place 17/1
Three-time DP World Tour winner Haotong Li has endured some pretty wild fluctuations in form over the years. But there have been little signs that the mercurial Chinese player could be approaching something resembling consistency. He has made seven cuts in seven events this season, performing well in much better fields than this one. He finished 14th at the Dubai Invitational and actually led at the Emirates after round 1 (ultimately settling for a seventh-place finish). His oft-erratic long game seems to have improved of late: he ranks sixth on tour for SG: Approach and 35th for SG: off-the-tee. He could be a nice sleeper option this week.
The Man to Beat- Takumi Kanaya- To Win 20/1 | To Place 44/10
Japanese golf is currently experiencing a bit of a purple patch, with 25-year-old Takumi Kanaya looking to join the trio of Nakajima, Hoshino and Hisatsune as recent DP World Tour winners. Perhaps this boom is a direct offshoot of Matsuyama’s glorious Masters win from a few years ago. Kanaya won the Taiheiyo Masters on this course as an amateur in 2019. A course specialist, he has also finished fifth, second and third in his three subsequent appearances. That’s impossible to ignore. He won three times last year and he also won in his last start, taking home the Japan Tour’s Token Homemade Cup title. He stumbled while contending at PGM Oshioka last year and he will be looking for some redemption on a course he adores.
