Ikemura survives late scare to complete wire-to-wire victory

Tomoyo Ikemura completed a wire-to-wire victory for his second JGTO title on Sunday despite seeing his commanding four-shot cushion reduced to none with just two holes remaining at the ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament.

The 26-year-old held a three-shot advantage heading into Sunday’s finale in Fukuoka and seemed to be on the cusp of a comfortable victory after he powered to 24-under-par overall through 12 holes courtesy of an eagle, four birdies and a bogey.

Two bogeys dropped at the 13th and 16th holes gave the chasing pack a glimmer of hope of at least forcing a playoff, but Ikemura, who had his fiancé on his bag the whole week, showed resilience by swiftly bouncing back with a birdie on 17 to restore a one-shot lead.

He then calmly rolled in a par putt on 18 to seal the victory with a final-round four-under 68, narrowly edging Ryo Hisasutne and Australia’s Brad Kennedy with a winning total of 23-under 265.

19-year-old Hisasutne, who began the day eight shots off the pace, fired a flawless 11-under 61 that included two eagles and seven birdies to finish joint runner-up with Australia’s Brad Kennedy, who marked his third top-four finish in his last four starts.

Yusaku Miyazato, the joint-leader at the halfway stage, finished with a strong 64, but it was only good enough for him to come in joint-fourth with Ryuko Tokimatsu on matching 267s.

A relieved Ikemura was on the cloud nine after lifting his second title since his ISPS Handa Gatsu-n to tobase Tour tournament in October last year.

“This victory is especially special as I had to manage the pressure I was facing in the last few holes. It was not easy, given the quality of the players who were chasing me. But I’m so happy I managed to do it again, and it feels so good.

“On 17, I was feeling confident. I had to attack the pin and I was actually going for an eagle. I was 220 yards away from the hole and I managed to hit the ball nicely to the green with my five-iron. I managed to get my birdie from about 10 feet.

“The putt for birdie on the final hole. was about 15 feet. I decided to play it cautiously as I did not want to go into a playoff and I’m so happy I won the tournament with a par on the final hole,” said Ikemura.