DP World Tour stars hail ‘massive’ staging of ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan

Scotland's Robert Macintyre and Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard have hailed the staging of the inaugural ISPS HANDA Championship, which gets underway at the PGM Ishioka Golf Club on Thursday, as "massive" as they both relish the challenge of taking on the JGTO's cream of the crop in their own backyard.

The ¥260,020,000 event will etch its name into the world's golfing history as the first-ever tournament to be sanctioned by the JGTO and DP World Tour.

It further underlines the commitments of the strategic alliance formed between the two major circuits, which has already begun with the top three money leaders on the JGTO Order of Merit earning membership in the DP World Tour each season.

From the DP World Tour stars' perspective, players such as Macintyre and Hojgaard will now get direct access to compete in the Land of Rising Sun and see how they stack up against the top local competitors.

"I think it's massive to be able to play across the globe. It's so important to grow the game and it's so important for all the guys around to world to be competing against each other, it doesn't matter whether it's Europe or Asia, anywhere," said Macintyre, the world No 98 and two-time DP World Tour winner.

Hojgaard chipped in as he heaped praise on what ISPS HANDA has done for the world of golf:  "I agreed with Rob, it's great to have a tournament here in Asia, especially in Japan. ISPS is a very important sponsor. They supported professional golf on both the men's and women's sides. Thanks to Dr. Handa support, we were able to have tournaments all around the world."

MacIntyre and Hojgaard will be joined by notable names including South African legend Ernie Els, Ryder Cup-winning captain Thomas Bjorn and Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain as they look to outplay the local hopefuls led by prize money king Kazuki Higa.

Higa, who missed the cut at the Masters Tournament two weeks ago, is all fired up to get his JGTO season off to a winning start as he makes his first appearance of the season on home soil.

Higa has been spending the past few months playing on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour and he's thrilled at the opportunity to face the international competitors again, now that he's back home.

"It’s great we have an event that is co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour this week. It gives me a chance to compete against some of the world’s best players in my own country," said Higa.

"I believe I have a good chance of beating the DP World Tour players as this is after all, home and I have played on this golf course several times already."

Aguri Iwasaki, who also holds a conditional status on DP World Tour thanks to his third-place finish on JGTO money list, echoed Higa's sentiment.

He said: "The atmosphere is going to be different than the regular JGTO tournament. 

"I don't have many opportunities like this, so I would like to thank the sponsors and JGTO for this tournament. I will try my best to win."

Ends.