The Tournament

The Panasonic Open Golf Championship is co-sanctioned with Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) and this year will be the 10^th edition of the event. The tournament has been played since 2008, with a two-year break in 2014-15, and has during this period been mostly seen Japanese winners.

Australian Brendan Jones won the event in 2010, and after a string of Japanese winners we saw Rahil Gangjee of India clinch the title by one shot last year.

Korean player Junggon Hwang playing in the second-last group had already posted -13 after a final round of five-under-par 66, and Gangjee, tied for the lead playing the last, needed a birdie to go one better.

After leaving himself a long bunker-shot for his third from the greenside bunker on the par-five 18^th, Gangjee played a brilliant shot to two feet to secure a birdie and his first win in 14 years.

The purse this year is ¥150,000,000 or approximately US$1,338,067, and the winner will take home ¥30,000,000 or roughly US$267,613.

The Course

The Higashi Hirono Golf Club outside of Kobe is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has previously hosted the Panasonic Open Golf Championship in 2012 when Masanori Kobayashi won the title.

The immaculately manicured course has some of the best fairways anywhere on Tour, and players will be well advised to keep the ball in the short stuff off the tee. The thick rough can be quite penalizing in certain spots, and the hilly course can give players a lot of uneven lies after wayward shots.

Not an overly long par-71 course at 7,020 yards, it will reward good ball-strikers as it will not be an easy course to scramble your way around. When the event was last held here Kobayashi’s winning score was 17-under-par, and it required one-under-par to make the halfway cut.

The Contenders

Rahil Gangjee

The last few weeks has seen defending champion Gangjee returning to the form that won him this title in April last year, with a tied-18^th at last week’s Shinhan Donghae Open and a tied-10^th at the Fujisankei Classic the previous week.

When asked about his thoughts on being defending champion this week, Gangjee said he was done being defending champion and ready to be a champion again. A confident answer from the 40-year-old Indian.

Jazz Janewattanaond

While Thai star Jazz is coming off two events that are a bit off the high standards he set early in the year, the impeccable ball-striking he has displayed this year should be a huge asset this week if he can find his touch on the greens again.

With two wins this season at the SMBC Singapore Open and the Kolon Korea Open, and 11 top-10s in all events he’s played, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader is always a threat to win when his putter gets hot.

Scott Vincent

Having come close to winning the Shinhan Donghae Open yet again last week after finishing third, Vincent is obviously in good form.

With a win on the AbemaTV Tour in japan earlier this year and six other top-10s this season, the Zimbabwean will be looking for a breakthrough first Asian Tour title this week.

Having spent much of this season on the Japan Golf Tour, Vincent should also be well prepared for the course conditions this week.

Ryo Ishikawa

After a couple lean years without a victory, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa is on the rise again with two wins on the Japan Golf Tour.

Ishikawa won the Japan PGA Championship and Shigeo Nagashima Invitational SEGASAMMY Cup in consecutive starts and has since posted a fifth and a tied-sixth in his last two tournaments.

He is currently leading the Japan Golf Tour Money Ranking and has climbed to 110^th on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) after being ranked 300^th in the end of June this year, his lowest position since 2008.

Chan Kim

Coming back from being out with an injury the whole 2018 season, the 2013 Asian Q-School medalist Kim seems to have had no problem picking up where he left off in 2017 when he won three times and finished third on the Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit.

Since May he has recorded seven top-10s in all events played, including second place finishes in the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open and last week’s Shinhan Donghae Open.

Kim will be aiming to go one better this week and seeing him return to the winner’s circle this week would not be a surprise.

By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional

The Tournament

The Shinhan Donghae Open has been played since 1981 and part of the Asian Tour schedule since 2016 when it was first co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and Korean PGA Tour (KPGA). This is the first year that Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) is also a sanctioning partner in the now tri-sanctioned event.

It is considered one of the Korean Majors and has been won by many of Korea’s best players such as Sangho Choi (3), KJ Choi (2), Sangmoon Bae (2) and Byeonghun An, and also international stars such as Paul Casey who won the title in 2011.

Last year, the title was won by Sanghyun Park who fired a tournament low round of eight-under-par 63 on Sunday, a round that was highlighted by six birdies on the front-nine, to beat runner-up Scott Vincent by five shots.

The purse this year is KRW 1,200,000,000 or approximately US$990,000, while the first prize is KRW 216,000,000 or approximately US$178,000.

The Course

Designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus, Bear’s Best Cheongna golf Club on the outskirts of Seoul is a Par-71 playing to 7,238 yards from the championship tees and has hosted the tournament since 2015.

In 2018 the front-nine played as the easiest nine, 0.32-under-par, compared to 0.28-over-par for the back nine.

The most difficult holes on the course were numbers 10 (+0.32) and 16 (-0.21), while holes two (-0.49) and six (-0.21) were the easiest.

Top Contenders

Sanghyun Park

Defending champion Park should definitely be considered as one of the favorites, as he is currently in fine form.

Park won the Fujisankei Classic two weeks ago on the Japan Golf Tour, and has also posted top-10s in the Shigeo Nagashima Invitational SEGASAMMY Cup where he finished ninth and the Gate Way to The Open Mizuno Open where he finished tied-third.

That last event qualified him for The Open at Royal Portrush where Park finished in a creditable tied-16^th place, his career best finish in a Major.

Jazz Janewattanaond

Current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Jazz’s record this year speaks for itself and he remains a top contender in every tournament he plays in my book.

Winning the Japan Tour co-sanctioned season opener in Singapore, Jazz has continued the season on a torrid pace by also winning the Kolon Korea Open in June and has so far racked up two wins and 11 top-10s in all events played.

He also had an unforgettable week at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black where he finished tied-14^th after being in tied-second place after 54-holes.

Scott Vincent

Zimbabwean Vincent has come close to winning the Shinhan Donghae Open every time he has teed up at this event. He has never finished outside the top-three in the past three editions.

His closest call coming in 2016 when he finished tied-second just one stroke behind Gaganjeet Bhullar, but he was also second to Sanghyun Park last year and tied-third in 2017.

Having won his first professional event this year on the AbemaTV Tour in Japan, Vincent has also posted top-10s in six other events this season. He is due for a breakthrough victory on the Asian Tour, and he obviously likes this course.

Yosuke Asaji

Having won his first professional title at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup in May, which qualified the Asaji for The Open at Royal Portrush, he did not have to wait long for his second career victory.

In last week’s ANA Open Asaji closed with a final round  65 to join a five-man play-off and emerged victorious after making a three-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole.

Having just won a tournament last week, Asaji will likely be in great form. However, this will be his first time playing this course which may be a disadvantage compared to the other favorites mentioned above.