The was a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. It was played at the ABC Golf Club in Katō, Hyōgo, usually in October or November. It was founded in 1971 as a Japan vs. United States team match (there was also individual prize money and the event counted as an official win on tour). In 1988, it became a full-field individual event. The event is sponsored by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and Mynavi Corporation.

History The tournament was founded in 1971 as the Miki Gold Cup, a nine-man team match between golfers from Japan and the United States. Results were based on the aggregate of the best seven scores from each team after 54 holes of stroke play competition; there was also a prize for the best individual score. The event was renamed as the ABC Cup in 1972. The following year, the best eight scores were used to determine the winner, and in 1975 the event was extended to 72 holes.

Between 1982 and 1984 the event was titled as the Goldwin Cup (1982–83) and the Uchida Yoko Cup (1984), during which time it was contested as stroke play matches with two points were awarded for a match win and one point for a tie. The first two rounds were played as better ball pairs and the final two rounds as singles, from which the scores were used to determine the individual winner. In 1985 the event reverted to its earlier format and name.

In 1988, the tournament became a regular 72 hole stroke play event on the Japan Golf Tour, since when it has always been held at ABC Golf Club in Katō, Hyōgo. Sponsored by Philip Morris International, it was titled using the Lark brand as the ABC Lark Cup or Lark Cup for five years, until 1994 when it became the Philip Morris Championship. After Philip Morris sponsorship came to an end, in 2003 the event became titled the ABC Championship, with Mynavi being added as title sponsor in 2008.

In 2023, following the 2024 schedule announcement by the Japan Golf Tour, it was confirmed that the 2023 tournament would be the last and would not return from 2024 onwards.

Tournament hosts Years Venue Location 1988–present ABC Golf Club Katō, Hyōgo 1983 Taiheiyo Club (Rokko Course) Hyōgo 1982, 1984 Sobhu Country Club (Sobhu Course) Inzai, Chiba 1979–1981, 1985–1987 Sports Shinko Country Club Kawanishi, Hyōgo 1976–1978 Harima Country Club Ono, Hyōgo 1975 Ibaraki Kokusai Golf Club Ibaraki, Osaka 1973–1974 Hashimoto Country Club Hashimoto, Wakayama 1972 Ikeda Country Club Ikeda, Osaka 1971 Perfect Liberty (PL) Country Club Tondabayashi, Osaka

Winners YearWinnerScoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-upMynavi ABC Championship 2023 Keita Nakajima 264 −24 3 strokes Shaun Norris 2022 Mikumu Horikawa 271 −17 2 strokes Hiroshi Iwata Daijiro Izumida Riki Kawamoto 2021 Yosuke Asaji 272 −16 2 strokes Mikumu Horikawa Tomohiro Ishizaka 2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2019 Hwang Jung-gon 269 −19 1 stroke Shugo Imahira 2018 Yuta Kinoshita 273 −15 Playoff Masahiro Kawamura 2017 Tatsuya Kodai 203 −13 1 stroke Im Sung-jae Yūsaku Miyazato Ryutaro Nagano 2016 Shingo Katayama (4) 276 −12 1 stroke Shintaro Kobayashi 2015 Kim Kyung-tae (2) 272 −12 2 strokes Daisuke Kataoka Won Joon Lee Katsumasa Miyamoto 2014 Ryuichi Oda 263 −21 5 strokes Koumei Oda Hideto Tanihara 2013 Yuta Ikeda 269 −15 Playoff Hur Suk-ho 2012 Han Lee 271 −17 1 stroke Katsumasa Miyamoto 2011 Koichiro Kawano 273 −15 Playoff Bae Sang-moon 2010 Kim Kyung-tae 275 −13 1 stroke Ryo Ishikawa 2009 Toru Suzuki 274 −14 5 strokes Takashi Kanemoto 2008 Ryo Ishikawa 279 −9 1 stroke Keiichiro FukaboriABC Championship 2007 Frankie Miñoza 274 −14 Playoff Lee Dong-hwan 2006 Shingo Katayama (3) 271 −17 Playoff Yang Yong-eun 2005 Shingo Katayama (2) 274 −14 2 strokes Dinesh Chand 2004 Makoto Inoue 273 −15 1 stroke Ryoken Kawagishi Toru Suzuki 2003 Shingo Katayama 265 −23 9 strokes Katsumasa MiyamotoPhilip Morris K.K. Championship 2002 Brendan Jones 269 −19 2 strokes Toshimitsu Izawa 2001 Toshimitsu Izawa 272 −16 1 stroke Hidemichi Tanaka Toru TaniguchiPhilip Morris Championship 2000 Toru Taniguchi 276 −12 1 stroke Hidemichi Tanaka Shingo Katayama 1999 Ryoken Kawagishi (2) 270 −18 1 stroke Katsunori Kuwabara 1998 Masashi Ozaki (2) 275 −13 1 stroke Carlos Franco Mitsuo Harada 1997 Brian Watts (2) 280 −8 2 strokes Kaname Yokoo 1996 Naomichi Ozaki (2) 278 −10 4 strokes Russ Cochran David Ishii Masashi Ozaki 1995 Hidemichi Tanaka 278 −10 1 stroke Naomichi Ozaki Nobumitsu Yuhara 1994 Brian Watts 276 −12 1 stroke Masashi Ozaki Naomichi Ozaki Duffy WaldorfLark Cup1993 Hajime Meshiai 283 −5 1 stroke Masahiro Kuramoto Naomichi Ozaki1992 Naomichi Ozaki 279 −9 1 stroke Masashi OzakiABC Lark Cup1991 Yoshikazu Yokoshima 280 −8 2 strokes Roger Mackay1990 Ryoken Kawagishi 277 −11 2 strokes Masashi Ozaki1989 Brian Jones 280 −8 4 strokes Toshiaki Sudo1988 Katsunari Takahashi 277 −11 1 stroke Masashi Ozaki

Japan vs USA team matches YearWinning teamScoreMargin ofvictoryIndividual winner(s)ScoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-upABC Japan-U.S. Match1987 2,227 3 strokes Andy Bean 269 −19 5 strokes Masahiro Kuramoto 1986 2,229 7 strokes Curtis Strange 271 −17 4 strokes Chip Beck 1985 2,557 2 strokes Tateo Ozaki Corey Pavin 276 −12 Title shared Uchida Yoko Cup Japan vs USA Match1984 30–18 Tom Watson (2) 135 −7 1 stroke Mark O'Meara Naomichi Ozaki Goldwin Cup Japan vs USA1983 29–19 Tsuneyuki Nakajima 141 −3 1 stroke Hale Irwin 1982 33–15 Bob Gilder Calvin Peete 134 −10 Title shared ABC Cup Japan vs USA 1981 2,246 35 strokes Bobby Clampett 271 −17 7 strokes Akira Yabe ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches 1980 2,280 Tie Jerry Pate 276 −12 1 stroke Tom Purtzer Norio Suzuki 1979 2,306 5 strokes Tom Purtzer 276 −12 10 strokes Bill Rogers 1978 2,273 53 strokes Isao Aoki (2) 273 −15 5 strokes Kosaku Shimada 1977 2,079 2 strokes Isao Aoki 280 −8 2 strokes Tom Weiskopf 1976 2,273 15 strokes Tom Watson 277 −11 3 strokes Isao Aoki 1975 2,266 42 strokes Tōru Nakamura 273 −15 7 strokes Al Geiberger 1974 1,752 9 strokes Teruo Sugihara 209 −7 1 stroke Hubert Green 1973 1,785 17 strokes Al Geiberger 218 +2 2 strokes Takashi Murakami 1972 1,488 18 strokes Tommy Aaron 209 −4 1 stroke Bert Yancey Miki Gold Cup1971 1,484 9 strokes Billy Casper Masashi Ozaki 208 −8 Title shared

Notes

References

External links

Coverage on the Japan Golf Tour's official site