Yuto Katsuragawa (-17), a 25-year-old Japanese and to date only a worthy meritorious in high competition golf, has won the ISPS Handa Championship using one of the ‘infallible formulas’ that exist in golf to surprise the rest of the candidates: to go out in one of the last matches of the final round and match the course record, whatever it may be, in this case a formidable 63 at the Gotemba course of the Taiheiyo Club in Japan… There is no Sunday or trophy that can resist such a combination.
Katsuragawa has done it, moreover, on a day that was perhaps a little more complicated than the previous ones because of the wind. Therefore, it is not surprising that his result stood up as an insurmountable wall for the rest and ended almost strolling on the 18th hole, par 5, where a comfortable par was enough for him to win by three strokes over his immediate pursuer, the Swede Sebastian Soderberg (-14).
Another Japanese knocking on the door of the elite. There are already three victories for Japanese golf on the European circuit this season and four in the last eight months, which can certainly no longer be considered a coincidence, especially considering that they have been obtained by four different players, Ryo Hisatsune (21 years old), Rikuya Hoshino (27), Keita Nakajima (23) and Yuto Katsuragawa (25), and that the average age of this quartet, as you can see, is exactly 24 years old.
They are young, very good, they have shed their complexes and, finally, they are eager to cross their borders ready to conquer the world, following the example of the ‘demigod’ Matsuyama. Katsuragawa, who until today was not a member of the European circuit and who in 2024 has been many weeks without competing, probably due to an injury, has been very clear in his statements, once the victory was confirmed: his goal now is to get into the top ten of the Race to Dubai to earn a place on the PGA Tour. Exactly the same as Nakajima said a few weeks ago after winning in India.
Until Katsuragawa shot up through the second nine holes today (lethal partial of five under between holes 10 and 16), the truth is that on the horizon only a heart-stopping finish was glimpsed, with about twenty solid contenders for the victory halfway through the round, among which were the three Spaniards with the best chances, Iván Cantero (-12), Manu Elvira (-10) and Alejandro del Rey (-8).
Del Rey, for example, had made an excellent start, three under at the midpoint of the round, but was going to deflate in the second half of the course. Cantero and Elvira were not quite hooking up to the top spots, but they were staying in an expectant second line chaining pars, although in the final stretch it was only Cantero who managed to change the pace (birdies on holes 15 and 18), to conquer an excellent third place that, in some way, opens up a new perspective for the Asturian. He does not yet have ‘permanence’ assured, but the push is important enough to seriously consider much more ambitious objectives.
Cantero is currently the Spanish player with the most chances of getting a spot for the PGA Championship, the second Major of the year, through the European circuit’s Asian Swing which ends next week in China. Remember: the top three in the Asian Swing ranking get a spot in this major and the Asturian is currently eighth. However, as the accounts stand, Iván would need to win the Volvo China outright to achieve it. Nobody said that playing your first Major was going to be easy and, on the other hand, Cantero arrives at the appointment in great form and confidence.
