Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters

The Taiheiyo Masters, titled since 2001 as the Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (三井住友Visa太平洋マスターズ, Mitsui sumitomo biza taiheiyō masutāzu) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. Founded in 1972, it was promoted as the Pacific Masters and for a few years was the richest golf tournament in the world with a prize fund of US$300,000.[1] It remains one of the richest tournaments in Japan, attracting some of the leading international golfers.

Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters
Tournament information
LocationGotemba, Shizuoka, Japan
Established1972
Course(s)Taiheiyo Club
(Gotemba Course)
Par70
Length7,262 yards (6,640 m)
Tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund¥200,000,000
Month playedNovember
Tournament record score
Aggregate265 Hideki Matsuyama (2016)
To par−23 as above
Current champion
Japan Ryo Ishikawa
Location map
Taiheiyo Club is located in Japan
Taiheiyo Club
Taiheiyo Club
Location in Japan
Taiheiyo Club is located in Shizuoka Prefecture
Taiheiyo Club
Taiheiyo Club
Location in the Shizuoka Prefecture

The tournament was played at Sobu Country Club near Inzai, Chiba until 1976. Since 1977 it has been contested on Taiheiyo Club's Gotemba Course near Gotemba, Shizuoka. Its title sponsors are Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Visa. Previous names include Taiheiyo Club Masters, Toshiba Taiheiyo Masters, Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters, and Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters.

The inaugural tournament went into a playoff between America's Gay Brewer and Australia's David Graham. It was a three-hole aggregate playoff, the first ever instituted in a golf tournament. Before that, playoffs were either decided in a full round or sudden death. Brewer won the event.[2]

Tournament hosts

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Years Venue Location
1977–present Taiheiyo Club, Gotemba Course Gotemba, Shizuoka
1972–1976 Sobu Country Club Inzai, Chiba

Winners

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Year Tour[a] Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters
2024 JPN   Ryo Ishikawa (4) 269 −11 1 stroke   Riki Kawamoto
  Hideto Tanihara
2023 JPN   Shugo Imahira 268 −12 1 stroke   Taiki Yoshida
2022 JPN   Ryo Ishikawa (3) 272 −8 Playoff   Rikuya Hoshino
2021 JPN   Hideto Tanihara (2) 274 −6 1 stroke   Takumi Kanaya
2020 JPN   Jinichiro Kozuma 272 −8 1 stroke   Ryosuke Kinoshita
2019 JPN   Takumi Kanaya (a) 267 −13 1 stroke   Shaun Norris
2018 JPN   Tatsunori Nukaga 201[b] −9 2 strokes   Kim Seung-hyuk
2017 JPN   Satoshi Kodaira 270 −18 3 strokes   Yūsaku Miyazato
2016 JPN   Hideki Matsuyama (2) 265 −23 7 strokes   Song Young-han
2015 JPN   Shingo Katayama (2) 202[b] −14 1 stroke   Thanyakon Khrongpha
2014 JPN   David Oh 276 −12 1 stroke   Toshinori Muto
2013 JPN   Hideto Tanihara 275 −13 1 stroke   Ryo Ishikawa
  Masahiro Kawamura
  Tomohiro Kondo
2012 JPN   Ryo Ishikawa (2) 273 −15 1 stroke   Michio Matsumura
2011 JPN   Hideki Matsuyama (a) 203[b] −13 2 strokes   Toru Taniguchi
2010 JPN   Ryo Ishikawa 274 −14 2 strokes   Brendan Jones
2009 JPN   Yasuharu Imano 275 –13 2 strokes   Kenichi Kuboya
  Han Lee
2008 JPN   Shingo Katayama 272 −16 Playoff   Yasuharu Imano
2007 JPN   Brendan Jones 274 −14 1 stroke   Toru Taniguchi
2006 JPN   Tsuneyuki Nakajima 275 −13 1 stroke   Toru Taniguchi
2005 JPN   Darren Clarke (2) 270 −18 2 strokes   Mitsuhiro Tateyama
2004 JPN   Darren Clarke 266 −22 6 strokes   Nozomi Kawahara
  Lee Westwood
2003 JPN   Kiyoshi Murota 272 −16 6 strokes   Ben Curtis
 Hiroyuki Fujita
  Kim Jong-duck
2002 JPN   Tsuneyuki Nakajima 272 −16 1 stroke   Hidemichi Tanaka
2001 JPN   Toshimitsu Izawa 270 −18 2 strokes   Yūsaku Miyazato (a)
  Shigeru Nonaka
Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters
2000 JPN   Toshimitsu Izawa 274 −14 1 stroke   Keiichiro Fukabori
1999 JPN   Hirofumi Miyase 274 −14 Playoff   Darren Clarke
  Ryoken Kawagishi
1998 JPN   Lee Westwood (3) 275 −13 2 strokes   Masashi Ozaki
1997 JPN   Lee Westwood (2) 272 −16 1 stroke   Masashi Ozaki
  Naomichi Ozaki
1996 JPN   Lee Westwood 206[b] −10 Playoff   Costantino Rocca
  Jeff Sluman
1995 JPN   Satoshi Higashi 274 −14 4 strokes   Shigeki Maruyama
1994 JPN   Masashi Ozaki 270 −18 5 strokes   Bob Estes
1993 JPN   Greg Norman 272 −16 1 stroke   Yoshi Mizumaki
Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters
1992 JPN   Masashi Ozaki 276 −12 1 stroke   Masahiro Kuramoto
  Bernhard Langer
  Tsukasa Watanabe
1991 JPN   Roger Mackay 272 −16 2 strokes   Yoshinori Kaneko
1990 JPN   José María Olazábal (2) 270 −18 5 strokes   Bernhard Langer
  Masashi Ozaki
1989 JPN   José María Olazábal 203[b] −13 3 strokes   Isao Aoki
  Naomichi Ozaki
1988 JPN   Seve Ballesteros 281 −7 3 strokes   Yasuhiro Funatogawa
1987 JPN   Graham Marsh 276 −12 1 stroke   Tom Watson
1986 JPN   Yasuhiro Funatogawa 274 −14 2 strokes   Larry Nelson
Taiheiyo Club Masters
1985 JPN   Tsuneyuki Nakajima 280 −8 Playoff   David Graham
1984 JPN   Shinsaku Maeda 275 −13 1 stroke   Kikuo Arai
  Naomichi Ozaki
1983: No tournament
1982 JPN   Scott Hoch 278 −10 3 strokes   Masahiro Kuramoto
Toshiba Taiheiyo Masters
1981 JPN   Danny Edwards 276 −12 3 strokes   Jerry Pate
  Tom Watson
1980 JPN   Norio Suzuki (2) 282 −6 Playoff   Masashi Ozaki
Taiheiyo Club Masters
1979 JPN   Norio Suzuki 280 −8 2 strokes   Rod Curl
  Bill Rogers
  Tom Watson
Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters
1978 JPN   Gil Morgan 273 −11 3 strokes   Jerry Pate
Taiheiyo Club Masters
1977 JPN   Bill Rogers 275 −9 1 stroke   Mike Morley
  Teruo Sugihara
1976 JPN   Jerry Pate 279 −5 2 strokes   Isao Aoki
1975 JPN   Gene Littler (2) 278 −6 1 stroke   Lee Elder
  Hubert Green
  Allen Miller
  Masashi Ozaki
1974   Gene Littler 279 −5 5 strokes   Bert Yancey
1973 JPN   Masashi Ozaki 278 −6 Playoff   Bert Yancey
1972   Gay Brewer 276 −8 Playoff   David Graham

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records
Sources:[3][4]

Notes

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  1. ^ JPN − Japan Golf Tour.
  2. ^ a b c d e Shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

References

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  1. ^ McCormack, Mark (1975). The World of Professional Golf 1975. Collins. p. 255. ISBN 0002119552.
  2. ^ Mozley, Dana (27 August 1976). "Bohen Snares Met Open Title After 3-Way, 3-Hole Playoff". Daily News. p. 77. Retrieved 19 March 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ 歴代優勝者 - 2015三井住友VISA太平洋マスターズ
  4. ^ Past Champions
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