ISPS HANDA - CHAMPIONSHIP - Five things to know presented by OCEANTEE

The DP World Tour hosts its first ever event in Japan this week as players from around the globe descend on PGM Ishioka Golf Club for the ISPS HANDA - CHAMPIONSHIP. Here are your five things to know.

DP World Tour lands in Japan

The DP World Tour further enhances its credentials as golf's global tour this week as Japan becomes the 51st different country to host an event on Tour. This week's event in Omitama is the fourth held in Asia in 2023 in a season that has already seen the Tour visit four continents and nine different countries. It is being co-sanctioned with the Japan Golf Tour Organisation and builds on the recently announced partnership between the DP World Tour, PGA TOUR and JGTO, that will see the top three players on the JGTO Order of Merit earn membership onto the DP World Tour each season. The only previous event on Japanese soil to feature on the DP World Tour schedule was the Olympic Men’s Golf Competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama in 2021. Isao Aoki was Japan's first winner on the DP World Tour in 1983 and since then Hideki Matsuyama has added a Major triumph at the Masters Tournament and two World Golf Championships to the nation's roll of honour. Could we see a fifth Japanese win this week?

ISPS HANDA plays big role again

The ISPS HANDA - CHAMPIONSHIP deepens the DP World Tour’s long-standing relationship with ISPS HANDA, the organisation founded by Japanese philanthropist Dr Haruhisa Handa in the belief that sport has the power to inspire, transform, and unite people and communities across social, racial and socio-economic barriers. ISPS HANDA has already backed this year's Australian Open and will also support the World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics in August, continuing a relationship with the Tour that has lasted nearly a decade. Dr Handa said: “The world is becoming increasingly globalised and golf is no exception to this, with the wider DP World Tour, PGA TOUR and JGTO collaboration a great example. ISPS looks forward to the partnership of Japan’s golfing world with the DP World Tour through this tournament and we are excited for the future of Japanese golf to keep in tandem with the globalisation trend. ISPS is here to support this important juncture in golf.”

Els among high-class international field

Four-time Major Champion Ernie Els is sure to take big crowds with him as he goes in search of a third career win in Japan. The Big Easy won the 1993 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament at Phoenix Country Club and the 2001 World Cup of Golf at Taiheiyo Golf Club alongside fellow South African Major winner Retief Goosen, and arrives in Omitama fresh off a recent PGA TOUR Champions win. Thomas Bjørn is also looking for more success in Japan, having won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in 1999 and 2003, with Rafa Cabrera Bello, Rasmus Højgaard, Robert MacIntyre, Guido Migliozzi, Antoine Rozner, Yannik Paul, Marcel Siem and Nicolas Colsaerts all teeing it up.

Local heroes in the hunt

Japanese stars have been making a big impression on the DP World Tour so far this season and will be out to further impress on home soil. Last year's JGTO Order of Merit winner Kazuko Higa arrives after a Major Championship appearance at the Masters Tournament and will have Masahiro Kawamura and Ryo Hisatsune - both in the top 25 on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex - for company. Current JGTO Order of Merit leader Shugo Imahira is also in the field alongside DP World Tour members Rikuya Hoshino, Aguri Iwasaki, Taiga Semikawa and Takumi Kanaya.

G4D Tour superstar in town

Brendan Lawlor will this week make his second DP World Tour start as he looks to carry over his remarkable success from golf for the disabled. The Irishman - who was born with rare bone disorder Ellis-Van Creveld Syndrome, characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs - is ranked second in the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability and has finished fourth and third in his two G4D Tour starts so far this season. Lawlor turned professional in 2019 and made history by becoming the first disabled golfer to compete on the DP World Tour at the ISPS HANDA UK Championship in August 2020.