The DP World Tour visits a new course this week in Japan as the ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP marks the penultimate regular event of the Asian Swing.

All to play for as Asian Swing continues

The ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP returns for its second edition in Japan this week, marking the penultimate event in the Asian Swing.

As with the four other Global Swings, the Asian Swing will have its own champion who will earn $200,000 from an overall $1million bonus pool.

Swing champions will also qualify for each of the Back 9 events, where players will play for increased Race to Dubai ranking points.

The leading DP World Tour member (not otherwise exempt) will also qualify for the Genesis Scottish Open, the second of five Rolex Series events this season.

But in an another exciting reward for DP World Tour members, those who finish in positions one to three in the final Asian Swing standings (at the conclusion of the Volvo China Open) will be exempt into the U.S. PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club from May 16-19.

As it stands, Keita Nakajima, Jesper Svensson and Kiradech Aphibarnrat sit in the top three positions on the rankings, but with a tight leaderboard, anyone down to T-58 can go top with a win in Japan.

Mount Fiji provides backdrop to new venue on the DP World Tour

With views of Mount Fuji offering a spectacular backdrop to this year’s tournament, Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course will play host on the DP World Tour for the first time this week, following on from last year’s event at PGM Ishioka GC.

The par 70 layout, which plays at 7262 yards and is described by the club as a ‘true hillside course’, was designed in 1977 by Shunsuke Kato and is the flagship layout of Taineiyo Club’s 18 courses. Situated 100km southwest of Tokyo, the course underwent a renovation in 2018 overseen by Rees Jones with consultation from Major Champion Hideki Matsuyama.

No stranger to elite competitions, the course has staged the Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Golf Tour every year since its opening in 1977. It has also played host to the 2001 World Cup of Golf, won by South African duo Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and will also stage this year’s Asia Pacific Amateur Championship in October.

Japanese stars in action

A host of players will be hoping to become the latest Japanese stars to make their mark after a record-breaking six months that has seen three champions crowned on the DP World Tour.

Keita Nakajima became the latest name to break through at the Hero Indian Open at the end of March, just 49 days after compatriot Rikuya Hoshino earned his own maiden title at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Last season, Ryo Hisatsune became just the third player in history – following Hideki Matsuyama (2021 Masters) and Isao Aoki (1983 Panasonic European Open) to lift a DP World Tour title at the 2023 Cazoo Open de France.

With the event co-sanctioned with the Japan Golf Tour, Nakajima is joined in the field this week by 45 other players hoping to impress the home fans at a venue that is very well-known to them. Those include the likes of Takumi Kanaya, Kazuki Higa, Masahiro Kawamura, Ryo Ishikawa (a three-time champion on this course) and Hideto Tanihara (a two-time winner on this course)- who all have several previous top ten finishes in DP World Tour events.

ISPS HANDA continues support of golf

ISPS HANDA was founded by the Japanese philanthropist, Dr Haruhisa Handa, in 2006 in the belief that sport has the power to inspire, transform, and unite people and communities across social, racial and socio-economic barriers.

The DP World Tour and ISPS HANDA have collaborated on several events during a long-standing relationship, in turn raising the profile of golf as an accessible sport for all.

This was seen recently with ISPS HANDA backing the Australian All Abilities Championship – an event that features on the European Tour group’s G4D Tour schedule – at the end of last year.

Previous events ISPS HANDA has supported on the DP World Tour include the ISPS HANDA Wales Open (2012-14 and 2020), ISPS HANDA Perth International (2012-14 and 2016), ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf (2013, 2016, 2018), (ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth (2017-19), ISPA HANDA Vic Open (2019-20), ISPS HANDA UK Championship (2020), ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management (2021), ISPS HANDA Championship in Spain (2022) and ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics (2019, 21-23).

Inside the field

Matthieu Pavon is the top-ranked player in the field this week, having reached a career-high in the Official World Golf Ranking with a tie for 12th on his Masters debut earlier this month.

The French star, who won his first PGA TOUR title earlier this year, is joined in action by fellow ISPS HANDA ambassadors Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who are also fellow winners on the DP World Tour.

Jesper Svensson, who like Nakajima has won his first DP World Tour title during the Asian Swing, is aiming to strengthen his bid for a first Major start at next month’s U.S. PGA Championship, while Matteo Manassero and Jordan Gumberg are this season’s other winners teeing it up.

New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori, who has guaranteed DP World Tour status for next season by finishing top of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, is another rising star to watch out for.

Former DP World Tour winners Renato Paratore and Tom Lewis are among the Qualifying School graduates looking to make an impression, while could we see a third Challenge Tour graduate from the class of 2023 win this season after Matteo Manassero and Jesper Svensson?