Unstoppable Hirata wins Panasonic Open Golf Championship

Kensei Hirata proved unstoppable on the JGTO this season as he captured his fourth title this season with a three-shot victory at the Panansonic Open Golf Championship on Sunday.

The 23-year-old shrugged off an overnight two-shot deficit to pip Taisei Shimizu to the title with a flawless seven-under-par 65, sealing his sixth JGTO victory with his winning total of 25-under-par 263.

With his latest victory, Hirata became the third youngest player at the age of 23 years and 301 days to win four times in a season after Ryo Ishikawa (18 years and 17 days) in 2009 and Hideki Matsuyama (21 years and 279 days) in 2013.

Hirata also became the first JGTO player in 23 years since Toshimitsu Izawa in 2001 to win three tournaments in a month following his wins at the Fujisankei Classic and Shinhan Donghae Open in September. 

“I’m honoured to be mentioned alongside such legendary players and leave my name in the history books. But it also makes me more determined and motivated to keep pushing myself and achieve more success,” said Hirata.

Stepping up to the tee with the heavy rains pelting down at the Arima Royal Golf Club and trailing Shimizu by two, Hirata’s only focus was to start strongly. And he did so with a birdie on the first hole. But it was not until the ninth hole that he picked up another shot. 

“Starting the round two shots behind, especially with the rain and wind in the morning, I thought it might be tough to catch up. My main goal was to avoid falling three strokes behind. I was chasing the lead and told myself to just wait for the opportunities to make birdies,” said Hirata.

With the rain easing on his back-nine, Hirata then mounted his fightback as he charged ahead with five birdies in his next six holes before cruising home with three straight pars, starting from the 16^th hole.

“After my birdie on the ninth hole, I was just more focused on keeping the momentum going. From the 14^thhole, I knew I had to press on. My putting has been solid the last four days and I was also able to keep my tee shots on the fairway. I have always wanted to win in my home region and I’m happy I managed to get that done today,” said Hirata, who only dropped one shot in his first round all week.

Shimizu, who was hoping to break into the winner’s circle for the first time this week, cut a frustrating figure at the end, especially after squandering a two-shot advantage.

“Everything just didn’t go my way today. I was aiming to finish the week around 25-under but just couldn’t do it. It was simply frustrating. It was just not my day,” said Shimizu.

Leading final round scores
All Japanese unless indicated otherwise
263 – Kensei Hirata 62-68-68-65
266 – Taisei Shimizu 63-69-64-70
267 -  Mikiya Akutsu 65-66-68-68
269 – Taiki Yoshida 69-68-67-65, Takashi Ogiso 67-69-66-67, Ryo Katsumata 65-65-70-69, Yusuke Sakamoto 68-67-64-70

Ends.