Shota Akiyoshi leads four Open qualifiers at Mizuno Open
Sunday 27 May 2018 11:18, UK
Shota Akiyoshi led four qualifiers for The 147th Open after he delighted his home fans in Japan with victory at the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open.
Akiyoshi's closing two-under 70 at The Royal Club earned him his maiden professional victory by one stroke on one under par, with Michael Hendry, Masahiro Kawamura and Masanori Kobayashi finishing tied for second to also secure places in the field for Carnoustie in July.
"I am very happy to have earned the opportunity to qualify for The Open and this will be my first time playing at Carnoustie," he said.
"I have never played links golf before but I consider myself a good iron player and I am very confident with my game in that regard. I scored well in windy conditions on a long course this week so it will give me a lot of confidence for playing Carnoustie."
Overnight-leader Hendry needed a par at the last to force a play-off with Akiyoshi, but the New Zealander closed with a bogey which ended his hopes of a second win on the Japan Golf Tour.
But the 38-year-old had already done enough to earn his second appearance in The Open, qualifying both times via the same tournament having also finished runner-up to Chan Kim last year, although he went on to miss the cut at Royal Birkdale.
Kawamura and Kobayashi both returned one-under 71s on the final day to claim the final two qualifying spots for golf's original championship, although Kawamura also bogeyed the final hole to miss out on forcing extra holes.
He will make his Open debut at Carnoustie, while four-time Japan Tour winner Kobayashi fared even worse at the 18th as the 42-year-old ran up a double-bogey to slip to level par.
