Tomoyo Ikemura is clearly mirroring his fine Asian Tour form on the Japan Golf Tour.

The 29-year-old won the Richard Mille Charity Tournament, at Noto Country Club, on Sunday to claim his third title on the Japan Golf Tour.

The Japanese golfer, who tied for second in the Smart Infinity Philippine Open this year and is currently 34^th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit (OOM), fired a brilliant bogey-free eight-under-par 64 to finish on 24-under and beat countryman Riki Kawamoto by two shots.

Kawamoto had led the tournament on each of the first three days and closed with a 69.

Ikemura started the final round three shots behind Kawamoto but stormed through with a brilliant back nine. He made birdies on 10 and 13, eagled the par-five 14^th, and carded more birdies on the 16^th and 17^th.

Tomoyo Ikemura finished joint second at the season-opening Smart Infinity Philippine Open. Picture by Jason Butler/Asian Tour.

Said the 29-year-old: “Around the 13th tee, I checked the leaderboard and saw that Riki [Kawamoto] was pulling away on his own. The final group wasn’t making much of a move—it was just Kawamoto. I thought, ‘he’s really enjoying his round’. I was at 19-under along with Ren [Yonezawa], and we were talking about how one of us might be able to challenge him. Then I started sinking more birdie putts, and the momentum shifted.”

He held his nerve to par the final two holes, crediting his strong finish to improved stamina.

“At last year’s Japan Open, I was leading until the final day but couldn’t close it out. Since last year, it’s been a recurring issue where I’m in a good position going into the final day but can’t extend my lead. So, for the second half of the season, I started running and spoke with my trainer about incorporating aerobic workouts while monitoring my heart rate. It was all to build stamina. I think that’s really helped,” said Ikemura, who last won in Japan in three years ago.

Last year he placed 53^rd on the Asian Tour’s OOM, having secured the 35^th and final card at Qualifying School at the start of the season.