The Crown returns to Iwata again

Hiroshi Iwata fired a five-under-par final round of 65 to win The Crowns for the second time in three years.

Iwata, 42, had six birdies to offset a lone bogey at the Nagoya Golf Club's Wago Course for a 15-under-par 265 total, and won by three shots from penultimate stage leader Rikuya Hoshino.

The victory propelled Iwata, who had also finished an impressive fourth at the ISPS HANDA Championships last week, to the top of the JGTO Money Rankings.

It was Iwata's fifth title of his JGTO career, with the last being at the Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup in August last year.

Interestingly, he also lifted the Sega Sammy Cup twice after having claimed his first back in 2015.

Trailing by one shot at the start of the play, Iwata came out with all guns blazing, birdieing his two opening holes to seize the lead and never relinquishing the top spot since.

He picked up four more gains on holes five, eight, 11 and 12 to pull clear from his closest pursuers and could even afford to bogey his last.

Iwata was delighted to have reclaimed the title he won in 2021 after coming close last year with a solo third finish.

He immediately set his sights on becoming a multiple winner in a season, something he hasn't accomplished throughout his career.

"Until now, I've never won more than once in a year. I want to take a break and prepare for the next battle," said Iwata.

Hoshino's hopes of staging a comeback were fading fast the moment he bogeyed the par-three fourth. He fought back with birdies on the eighth and 16th, but if those gains were nothing but a consolation.

Three-time Tour winner Taiga Semikawa birdied his first four holes of the day but could not make further headway as his 66 was only good enough to place him solo third on 11-under 269.

Ryo Ishikawa was a further shot back in fourth after firing an eagle and six birdies to trade with three bogeys on his way to 65.

Jbe Kruger of South Africa squandered a chance to claim a top-five finish after conceding back-to-back bogeys to close with a 68 and settle for joint-ninth on 274.

Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines was the next-best international finisher at a distant tied-35th 281 following a disappointing 73.

Leading final round scores:

265: Hiroshi Iwata 67-67-66-65;

268: Rikuya Hoshino 67-66-66-69;

269: Taiga Semikawa 70-66-67-66;

270: Ryo Ishikawa 69-69-67-65;

272: Mikumu Horikawa 66-68-69-69;

273: Tomoharu Otsuki 72-66-69-66, Shugo Imahira 71-68-66-68, Masaya Hattori 67-67-70-69;

274: Taiga Sugihara 71-71-66-66, Taiki Yoshida 65-72-70-67, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 71-67-68-68, Mikiya Akutsu 67-69-69-69.