Ishikawa chasing Visa defence
BY Bruce Young | Japan Tour | 2011 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters | Preview | 09 Nov 2011
The Japan Golf Tour returns to action this week with the staging of the Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters at the Taiheiyo Club’s Gotemba Course at the base of Mt Fuji.
Long considered one of the flagship events of the Japan Golf Tour, the Taiheiyo Masters has often been a popular event for international players but in these changing times and schedules for international events this week’s contest contains only one ’international invitee’ namely the South African Charl Schwartzel.
The field does therefore include three players who will tee it up at next week’s Presidents Cup namely Charl Schwartzel, Ryo Ishikawa and Kyung Tae Kim.
The Japan Tour’s leading player in 2011 Sang Moon Bae will start as the favourite on paper but in terms of the Japanese fans there is little doubt that the defending champion, Ishikawa, will have most support.
Ishikawa defeated Australian Brendan Jones by two shots last year and has played well enough in recent starts to be a strong chance of successfully defending.
Jones won the event in 2007 in what was his best season in Japan and might well be a chance although he will need to improve on his latest form.
Other Australasians in the field are Chris Campbell and David Smail.
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