MVP Higa tops money list, winners lauded at JGTO awards ceremony

Kazuki Higa has been named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the 2022 JGTO season following a string of outstanding performances that saw him win four titles this year. 

The 27-year-old's successful season showed that he has come a long way since making his JGTO debut in 2018. 

Higa has underlined his potential in recent years by winning his first two titles at the RIZAP KBC Augusta Golf Tournament in 2019 and Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup in 2021. 

But Higa took his game up a notch this year, picking up four titles and also came in top-10 on five other occasions.

It took Higa just the second start at the Kansai Open to get the ball rolling. He then kept the momentum going by winning also the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup, Shinhan Donghae Open and Dunlop Phoenix Tournament. 

He also missed out narrowly on winning the Japan Open after settling for runner-up. 

At the JGTO Awards Ceremony held in downtown Tokyo this afternoon, Higa also claimed the four other awards by virtue of being the top finisher of the Money Rankings, where he amassed ¥181,598,825 from 25 starts, Par or Better Average, Scoring Average and Golf Media Award.

"Looking back, I feel there are events that I should have played better but overall, I am satisfied with how the season went," said Higa. 

"I think that I’m developing as a golfer each year and this year was a result of constant work through the years. 

"I became much stronger mentally and I was able to control my emotions during tough moments. 

"But there’s still a lot of things that I can improve on. I need to be more consistent and become able to post decent rounds even when I’m not playing particularly well." 

American Chan Kim was the sole international award recipient of the day for topping the Putting Average chart. 

2022 JGTO Roll of Honour 

MVP: Kazuki Higa

Money Rankings: Kazuki Higa

Mercedes-Benz Total Point Rankings: Rikuya Hoshino

Rookie Award Shimada Trophy: Yuto Katsuragawa

ABEMA Tour Money Rankings: Yujiro Ohori

Scoring Average: Kazuki Higa

Putting Average: Chan Kim  

Par or Better: Kazuki Higa

Greens In Regulation: Yuto Katsuragawa

Birdie Or Better: Rikuya Hoshino

Eagles per Round: Ryo Hisatsune

Driving Distance: Riki Kawamoto

Driving Accuracy Percentage: Yuki Inamori

Sand Save: Rikuya Hoshino

Total Driving: Yuto Katsuragawa

Special Prize:Taiga Semikawa

Golf Media Award: Kazuki Higa