Tournament article
Japan Open Golf Championship 2021
Yuta Ikeda showed his fighting spirit with great sport to finish as runner-up, 3rd time this season
"All I had in mind was to catch up with him. That was only motivation I had in my heart."
Yuta made the turn with 2 birdies and no bogey. On 12th, he got caught in the sand which costed him a bogey but bounced back immediately with a birdie on 13th by making 6-meter.
He made a great save on 14th and went aggressive on next Par 5 15th. But his tee shot went way left and it bounced on the cart path to end up in the woods. He played smart and place the ball back to the fairway. His 3rd shot gave him a birdie chance from the fringe, but unfortunately, he couldn't hole it.
Yuta kept on showing energetic performance until the end, as he made 4-meter birdie putt on Par 3 17th, and also darted the pin with 2nd shot on final 18th.
"My round wasn't bac at all, but I wished I had more birdies to place pressure on the leader. It was really nice having the cheers and applauses while we played. I hope I was able to give back some excitement."
Yuta finished as runner-up again, this was his 3rd time this season. He must have regrets that he couldn't win, but he was surely happy and grateful that the tournament had spectators this week and enjoyed every part of it.