Jones shoots 61 to win Golf Nippon Series JT Cup
BY Fred Norks | Japan Tour | 2007 Golf Nippon Series JT Cup | Round Four | 02 Dec 2007
Canberra’s Brendan Jones has fired a superb final round of 61 to claim an unlikely win at the season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club in Japan.
Jones, who began the day in equal 12th place and five strokes behind overnight co-leaders, Jeev Milkha Singh and Hiroshi Iwata, turned the corner with four birdies under his belt and then went on to secure a further six to post a tournament record nine under 61 and close the day at 11 under. The 32-year-old was then forced to wait while the final four groups completed their rounds.
In the final group, Jeev Milkha Singh and Liang Wen-chong, turned up the pressure with both players birdieing the par 5 17th to move in to a tie with Jones.
However, the difficult par 3 18th took it’s toll with both players subsequently missing the green, resulting in double bogeys and Jones claiming his third Japan Tour title of the season.
Japan Tour stalwart Toru Taniguchi finished in outright second place at 10 under and topped the Japan Tour moneylist for 2007 with ¥171,744,498 (AUD$1.75 million).
Jones, who earned ¥30 million for his victory today, finished in outright third on the 2007 moneylist with ¥115,531,323 (AUD$1.2 million) to take his career earnings in Japan to ¥396,120,959 (AUD$4.04 million).
New Zealand’s David Smail rounded out a consistent year with a third place finish today, which took his total for 2007 to ¥46,634,668 (AUD$476,000 – T15) while the only other Australasian to compete this week, New South Welshman Steve Conran, finished the season with ¥39,801,750 (AUD$406,000 – T21) after grinding his way to equal 19th and 1 under today.
Other notable Australians in the moneylist top 50 were Chris Campbell, who finished the year in 33rd place with a total of ¥26,266,893 (AUD$268,000) while Wayne Perske, took home ¥22,711,466 (AUD$232,000) to close the year in equal 42nd.
The Golf Nippon Series JT Cup marks the end of the 2007 season. The Tour will return in mid-April 2008 for the Token Homemate Cup.
