1998 PGA of Japan Tour

The 1998 PGA of Japan Tour was the 26th season of the PGA of Japan Tour, the main professional golf tour in Japan since it was formed in 1973.

1998 PGA of Japan Tour season

Duration	12 March 1998 (1998-03-12) – 13 December 1998 (1998-12-13)
Number of official events	36
Most wins	Brandt Jobe (3) Masashi Ozaki (3) Hidemichi Tanaka (3)
Money list	Masashi Ozaki
← 1997 1999 →

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1998 season.^[1]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (¥)	Winner[a]	OWGR points	Other tours[b]	Notes
15 Mar	Token Corporation Cup	Kagoshima	110,000,000	Hajime Meshiai (10)	22
22 Mar	Dydo Drinco Shizuoka Open	Shizuoka	100,000,000	Eduardo Herrera (4)	16
29 Mar	Just System KSB Open	Kagawa	100,000,000	Carlos Franco (4)	16
5 Apr	Descente Classic Munsingwear Cup	Chiba	100,000,000	Dinesh Chand (1)	18
19 Apr	Tsuruya Open	Hyōgo	100,000,000	Katsumasa Miyamoto (1)	16
26 Apr	Kirin Open	Ibaraki	100,000,000	Frankie Miñoza (5)	24	AGC
3 May	The Crowns	Aichi	120,000,000	Davis Love III (n/a)	34
10 May	Fujisankei Classic	Shizuoka	120,000,000	Carlos Franco (5)	24
17 May	Japan PGA Championship	Nara	120,000,000	Brandt Jobe (4)	24
24 May	Ube Kosan Open	Yamaguchi	100,000,000	Brandt Jobe (5)	16
31 May	Mitsubishi Galant Tournament	Kōchi	100,000,000	Toru Taniguchi (1)	16
7 Jun	JCB Classic Sendai	Miyagi	100,000,000	Yoshi Mizumaki (6)	16
14 Jun	Sapporo Tokyu Open	Hokkaidō	100,000,000	Toru Suzuki (4)	16
21 Jun	Yomiuri Open	Hyōgo	100,000,000	Brian Watts (11)	16
28 Jun	Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open	Okayama	100,000,000	Brandt Jobe (6)	20
5 Jul	PGA Philanthropy Tournament	Gunma	100,000,000	Shigeki Maruyama (8)	16
12 Jul	Yonex Open Hiroshima	Hiroshima	100,000,000	Masashi Ozaki (88)	16
26 Jul	Aiful Cup	Aomori	100,000,000	Hidemichi Tanaka (3)	16
2 Aug	NST Niigata Open Golf Championship	Niigata	60,000,000	Masayuki Kawamura (2)	16
9 Aug	Sanko Grand Summer Championship	Gunma	100,000,000	Shingo Katayama (1)	16
30 Aug	Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta	Fukuoka	100,000,000	Masashi Ozaki (89)	16
6 Sep	Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Promise Cup	Hokkaidō	100,000,000	Katsunori Kuwabara (2)	20
13 Sep	Suntory Open	Chiba	100,000,000	Mamo Osanai (1)	24
20 Sep	ANA Open	Hokkaidō	100,000,000	Keiichiro Fukabori (2)	24
27 Sep	Gene Sarazen Jun Classic	Tochigi	110,000,000	Todd Hamilton (7)	22
4 Oct	Japan Open Golf Championship	Ibaraki	120,000,000	Hidemichi Tanaka (4)	32		Flagship event
11 Oct	Tokai Classic	Aichi	110,000,000	Toshimitsu Izawa (2)	20
18 Oct	Nikkei Cup Torakichi Nakamura Memorial	Ibaraki	110,000,000	Mitsutaka Kusakabe (3)	20
25 Oct	Bridgestone Open	Chiba	120,000,000	Nobuhito Sato (2)	30
1 Nov	Philip Morris Championship	Hyōgo	200,000,000	Masashi Ozaki (90)	24
8 Nov	Acom International	Fukushima	120,000,000	Kaname Yokoo (1)	16
15 Nov	Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters	Shizuoka	150,000,000	Lee Westwood (n/a)	38
22 Nov	Dunlop Phoenix Tournament	Miyazaki	250,000,000	Lee Westwood (n/a)	40
29 Nov	Casio World Open	Kagoshima	150,000,000	Brian Watts (12)	36
6 Dec	Golf Nippon Series JT Cup	Tokyo	100,000,000	Katsumasa Miyamoto (2)	24
13 Dec	DDI Group Okinawa Open	Okinawa	80,000,000	Hidemichi Tanaka (5)	16

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA of Japan Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse	Winner	OWGR points	Other tours[b]	Notes
12 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$3,200,000	Mark O'Meara	100		Major championship
21 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$3,000,000	Lee Janzen	100		Major championship
19 Jul	The Open Championship	England	£1,700,000	Mark O'Meara	100		Major championship
16 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$3,000,000	Vijay Singh	100		Major championship

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.^[2]

Position	Player	Prize money (¥)
1	Masashi Ozaki	179,627,400
2	Brian Watts	132,014,990
3	Hidemichi Tanaka	103,941,437
4	Brandt Jobe	97,566,406
5	Katsumasa Miyamoto	93,580,618

Japan Challenge Tour

1998 Japan Challenge Tour season

Duration	25 March 1998 (1998-03-25) – 19 November 1998 (1998-11-19)
Number of official events	14
Most wins	Taisuke Kitajima (2) Masakazu Noritake (2) Gohei Sato (2)
← 1997 1999 →

The 1998 Japan Challenge Tour was the 14th season of the Japan Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the PGA of Japan Tour.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1998 season.^[3]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (¥)	Winner[c]
26 Mar	PRGR Cup	Tochigi	10,000,000	Gohei Sato (3)
16 Apr	Korakuen Cup (1st)	Ibaraki	10,000,000	Shinsuke Yanagisawa (1)
24 Apr	Nishino Cup Open	Ibaraki	10,000,000	Masakazu Noritake (1)
29 Apr	Daiwa Cup Kochi Open	Kochi	10,000,000	Naoya Sugiyama (2)
21 May	Aiful Challenge Cup Spring	Hyōgo	10,000,000	Hiroshi Ueda (2)
12 Jun	Matsugamine Open	Niigata	10,000,000	Taisuke Kitajima (2)
18 Jun	Korakuen Cup (2nd)	Hokkaido	10,000,000	Tetsuya Haraguchi (1)
29 Jul	Twin Fields Cup	Ishikawa	10,000,000	Kazumasa Sakaitani (1)
20 Aug	Daiwa Cup Akita Open	Akita	10,000,000	Takashi Tsutsumi (1)
27 Aug	Andersen Consulting Growing Cup	Ibaraki	10,000,000	Masakazu Noritake (2)
11 Sep	Aiful Challenge Cup Autumn	Chiba	10,000,000	Taisuke Kitajima (3)
8 Oct	Korakuen Cup (3rd)	Oita	10,000,000	Masayuki Tomita (1)
22 Oct	Daiwa Cup Yamanashi Open	Yamanashi	10,000,000	Yoshimi Niizeki (1)
19 Nov	Korakuen Cup (4th)	Tochigi	10,000,000	Gohei Sato (4)

Notes

1. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of PGA of Japan Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA of Japan Tour members.
2. AGC − Asia Golf Circuit.
3. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Japan Challenge Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Japan Challenge Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the PGA of Japan Tour.