The 2002 Japan Golf Tour, titled as the 2002 iiyama Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th season of the Japan Golf Tour (formerly the PGA of Japan Tour), the main professional golf tour in Japan since it was formed in 1973.

2002 Japan Golf Tour season
Duration14 March 2002 (2002-03-14) – 8 December 2002 (2002-12-08)
Number of official events29
Most winsJapan Toru Taniguchi (4)
Money listJapan Toru Taniguchi
Most Valuable PlayerJapan Toru Taniguchi
Rookie of the YearAustralia Brendan Jones
2001
2003

It was the third season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Iiyama, that began in 2000.[1]

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 2002 season.[2]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(¥)
Winner[a] OWGR
points
Notes
17 Mar Token Corporation Cup Kagoshima 100,000,000   Toru Taniguchi (4) 16
24 Mar Dydo Drinco Shizuoka Open Shizuoka 100,000,000   Kiyoshi Murota (5) 16
28 Apr Tsuruya Open Hyōgo 100,000,000   Dean Wilson (5) 16
5 May The Crowns Aichi 120,000,000   Justin Rose (n/a) 16
12 May Fujisankei Classic Shizuoka 140,000,000   Nobuhito Sato (7) 16
19 May Japan PGA Championship Nara 110,000,000   Kenichi Kuboya (3) 16 Japan major
26 May Munsingwear Open KSB Cup Kagawa 120,000,000   Kenichi Kuboya (4) 16
2 Jun Diamond Cup Tournament Saitama 100,000,000   Tsuneyuki Nakajima (46) 16
9 Jun JCB Classic Sendai Miyagi 100,000,000   Toru Suzuki (6) 16
23 Jun Tamanoi Yomiuri Open Hyōgo 90,000,000   Toru Taniguchi (5) 16
30 Jun Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Okayama 100,000,000   Dean Wilson (6) 16
7 Jul Japan Golf Tour Championship iiyama Cup Tochigi 120,000,000   Nobuhito Sato (8) 16 Japan major
14 Jul Juken Sangyo Open Hiroshima Hiroshima 90,000,000   Hur Suk-ho (1) 16
28 Jul Sato Foods NST Niigata Open Golf Championship Niigata 50,000,000   Yasuharu Imano (3) 16
4 Aug Aiful Cup Ishikawa 120,000,000   Yasuharu Imano (4) 16
11 Aug Sun Chlorella Classic Hokkaidō 120,000,000   Christian Peña (1) 16
1 Sep Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta Fukuoka 100,000,000   Nobumitsu Yuhara (7) 16
8 Sep Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Promise Cup Hokkaidō 80,000,000   Nobuhito Sato (9) 16
15 Sep Suntory Open Chiba 100,000,000   Shingo Katayama (11) 16
22 Sep ANA Open Hokkaidō 100,000,000   Masashi Ozaki (94) 16
29 Sep Acom International Ibaraki 120,000,000   Toru Taniguchi (6) 16
13 Oct Georgia Tokai Classic Aichi 120,000,000   Toru Taniguchi (7) 16
20 Oct Japan Open Golf Championship Yamaguchi 120,000,000   David Smail (1) 32 Flagship event[b]
27 Oct Bridgestone Open Chiba 110,000,000   Scott Laycock (1) 16
3 Nov Philip Morris K.K. Championship Hyōgo 200,000,000   Brendan Jones (1) 16
17 Nov Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Shizuoka 150,000,000   Tsuneyuki Nakajima (47) 16
24 Nov Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Miyazaki 200,000,000   Kaname Yokoo (4) 44
1 Dec Casio World Open Kagoshima 140,000,000   David Smail (2) 16
8 Dec Golf Nippon Series JT Cup Tokyo 100,000,000   Shingo Katayama (12) 16 Japan major

Unofficial events

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The following events were sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse Winner OWGR
points
Notes
14 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$5,600,000   Tiger Woods 100 Major championship
16 Jun U.S. Open United States US$6,250,000   Tiger Woods 100 Major championship
21 Jul The Open Championship Scotland £3,800,000   Ernie Els 100 Major championship
18 Aug PGA Championship United States US$5,500,000   Rich Beem 100 Major championship

Money list

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The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.[3][4]

Position Player Prize money (¥)
1   Toru Taniguchi 145,440,341
2   Nobuhito Sato 130,825,969
3   Shingo Katayama 129,258,019
4   Dean Wilson 97,116,100
5   David Smail 94,103,576

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
Most Valuable Player   Toru Taniguchi [5][6]
Rookie of the Year (Shimada Trophy)   Brendan Jones [5]

Japan Challenge Tour

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2002 Japan Challenge Tour season
Duration4 April 2002 (2002-04-04) – 7 November 2002 (2002-11-07)
Number of official events11
Most wins  Tatsuhiko Ichihara (2)
Money list  Tatsuhiko Ichihara
2001
2003

The 2002 Japan Challenge Tour was the 18th season of the Japan Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the Japan Golf Tour.

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 2002 season.[7]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(¥)
Winner[c]
5 Apr PRGR Cup (Kanto) Ibaraki 10,000,000   Masayoshi Yamazoe (1)
18 Apr Kourakuen Cup (1st) Oita 10,000,000   Tatsuhiko Ichihara (1)
10 May JGTO iiyama Challenge I Tochigi 10,000,000   Shinji Ikeuchi (1)
31 May JGTO iiyama Challenge II Mie 10,000,000   Nobuhiro Masuda (1)
14 Jun Aiful Challenge Cup Spring Hyōgo 10,000,000   Satoru Hirota (1)
28 Jun PGA Cup Challenge Hiroshima 10,000,000   Yuzo Oyama (2)
11 Jul Kourakuen Cup (2nd) Chiba 10,000,000   Paul Sheehan (1)
13 Sep Aiful Challenge Cup Autumn Aomori 10,000,000   Tatsuhiko Ichihara (2)
27 Sep Kasco Cup Chiba 10,000,000   Hideki Haraguchi (1)
4 Oct PRGR Cup (Kansai) Hyōgo 10,000,000   Hideto Tanihara (1)
7 Nov Kourakuen Cup (3rd) Tochigi 10,000,000   Mitsuhiro Tateyama (2)

Money list

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The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.[8] The top 20 players on the money list earned status to play on the 2003 Japan Golf Tour.

Position Player Prize money (¥)
1   Tatsuhiko Ichihara 4,124,935
2   Nobuhiro Masuda 3,860,479
3   Paul Sheehan 3,182,692
4   Mitsuhiro Tateyama 2,700,000
5   Satoshi Oide 2,695,742

Notes

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  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Japan Golf Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Japan Golf Tour members.
  2. ^ Also a Japan major championship.
  3. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Japan Challenge Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Japan Challenge Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the Japan Golf Tour.

References

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  1. ^ "年間スポンサーのイーヤマ撤退を正式発表" [Official announcement of the withdrawal of annual sponsor iiyama]. Golf Digest Japan (in Japanese). 11 May 2002. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. ^ "2002 Tour Tournaments". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  3. ^ "2002 Money Rankings". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  4. ^ "賞金王争いに決着! 谷口徹が初のキングの座を決めた" [The battle for the top prize is settled! Toru Taniguchi has decided to become the first king] (in Japanese). Japan Golf Tour Organization. 2 December 2002. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b "2002年度ジャパンゴルフツアー表彰式" [2002 Japan Golf Tour Awards Ceremony]. Golf Digest Japan (in Japanese). 9 December 2002. Archived from the original on 21 December 2002. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Taniguchi hospitalized with illness". The Japan Times. 15 February 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2023. Last December, Taniguchi was named the Player of the Year after finishing on top of the 2002 money list…
  7. ^ "2002 Challenge Schedule". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  8. ^ "2002 Money Ranking". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
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