Yonezawa secures JGTO breakthrough at The Crowns

Ren Yonezawa emerged victorious in a gripping two-man showdown against Naoyuki Kataoka on the back nine of Sunday's play, securing his inaugural JGTO title at The Crowns.

The 24-year-old, now in his third full season competing on JGTO, birdied the final hole at Nagoya Golf Club's Wago Course to finish the tournament at 13-under-par 267, clinching the title by a single shot after a final-round 65.

Starting the day tied for third and trailing by two shots, Yonezawa surged into the lead with a birdie on the eighth hole. He quickly extended his advantage with two more birdies in the following two holes.

A bogey on the 12th allowed Kataoka to join him atop the leaderboard.

Although Kataoka briefly took the lead with his fifth birdie of the day on the 14th, Yonezawa displayed nerves of steel by saving par from about five meters on the 15th, keeping himself in contention.

Kataoka's costly bogey on the 16th, his second of the day, levelled the playing field, setting up a dramatic finish on the par-four final hole.

Both Yonezawa and Kataoka's tee shots found the right forest, but Yonezawa's shot had a clear path, enabling him to delicately place his second shot beside the left pin from the rough.

It was a well-deserved breakthrough for Yonezawa, after coming in joint runner-up twice last year at Panasonic Open and Casio World Open.

"I've been eager for victory since the start of this year, especially after finishing second twice last year," said Yonezawa.

"It's incredibly fulfilling to have reached this milestone sooner than I anticipated.

“Seeing many players of my age group achieve victories naturally fueled my desire to win too. While I can't deny feeling impatient (for the win), considering it's only my third year as a professional, I focused on sticking to my strategic plan without rushing. I'm happy I managed to win today.

“While it was disappointing to fall short in the same championship last year, those setbacks ultimately contributed to this victory. 

“This weekend, I could sense a significant improvement in my mental resilience as well.

For Kataoka, this loss marks a missed opportunity to return to the winners' circle following his triumph at the 2021 Japan Players Championship, where he secured his first JGTO title. 

This recent second-place finish adds to his tally of six runner-up positions.

The penultimate stage leader, Takashi Ogiso, finished with a modest 72, resulting in a tie for third place on 272 alongside Yuta Sugiura (68) and Yuki Shino (69).

Yuto Katsuragawa, last week's ISPS HANDA Championship winner, delivered a 66, his best round of the week, en route to finishing in a five-way tie for sixth place at 273, alongside Token Homemate Cup champion Takumi Kanaya (67).

South Korea's Song Young-han was the sole non-Japanese competitor to finish in the top 10, concluding the tournament at six-under overall.

Leading final round scores:

267: Ren Yonezawa 68-67-67-65;

268: Naoyuki Kataoka 68-66-67-67;

272: Yuta Sugiura 69-69-66-68, Yuki Shino 70-67-66-69, Takashi Ogiso 68-64-68-72;

273: Yuto Katsuragawa 71-68-68-66, Takumi Kanaya 69-68-69-67, Yuki Inamori 69-70-67-67, Tomoyasu Sugiyama 69-68-66-70; 

274: Kazuya Koura 67-69-69-69, Song Young-han (Kor) 66-70-68-70.