After a month-long hiatus, the DP World Tour takes center stage once again with the ISPS Handa Championship. From April 25th to 28th, the tournament will be held in Gotemba, Japan, in the Shizuoka Prefecture, with eight Italians competing. Alongside Matteo Manassero, who has already secured a victory at the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa this year, the lineup includes Guido Migliozzi, Edoardo Molinari, Renato Paratore, Francesco Laporta, Filippo Celli, Lorenzo Scalise, and Andrea Pavan. All Italians will be present except for Francesco Molinari, who will be competing in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the United States, partnered with Luke Donald, captain of the European Ryder Cup team.
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Currently ranked 12th in the Race to Dubai, the DP World Tour’s merit-based system, Manassero is coming off a 5th-place finish at the Hero Indian Open. As one of the pre-tournament favorites, the 31-year-old Venetian will face stiff competition from the numerous Japanese players, exactly 45 of whom will be vying for glory on home soil. Among them are Keita Nakajima, the reigning champion of the Hero Indian Open, and Rikuya Hoshino, this year’s Qatar Masters champion and currently second in the money list.
Additionally, Ryo Hisatsune will have a chance to shine. In 2023, he became the third Japanese golfer in history to win a title on the circuit after Hideki Matsuyama (Masters 2021) and Isao Aoki (Panasonic European Open 1983) thanks to his victory at the Open de France.
The event, now in its third edition and organized in collaboration with the Japan Golf Tour, will offer a prize purse of $2,250,000, with $382,500 going to the winner. The tournament will take place at the Taiheiyo Club Gotemba course, designed in 1977 by Shunsuke Kato and renovated in 2018, providing a scenic backdrop of Mount Fuji. The course previously hosted the World Cup of Golf in 2001 and will host the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship in October.
Notably absent from the tournament will be Australian Lucas Herbert, the 2023 champion, who has since joined the LIV Golf, the Arabian Super League. Among the prominent competitors are Frenchman Matthieu Pavon, who finished 12th at The Masters, and past winner Yuto Katsuragawa from Japan, who claimed victory in 2022.
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