The was a professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tournament on the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

. It was played at the ABC Golf Club in

Katō, Hyōgo file:Tojo-ko.jpg, 260px, Lake Tōjō is a Cities of Japan, city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 39,628 in 17199 households and a population density of 250 persons per km². The total area of the city is . G ...

, usually in October or November. It was founded in 1971 as a Japan vs. United States team match (there was also individual prize money and the event counted as an official win on tour). In 1988, it became a full-field individual event. The event is sponsored by

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region. On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...

and

Mynavi Corporation Mynavi Corporation is a Japanese company, active mostly in publishing and human resources businesses, that "celebrated its 50th anniversary on August 15, 2023". Mynavi is the naming sponsor of Mynavi ABC Championship golf tournament, Mynavi Send ...

History

The tournament was founded in 1971 as the Miki Gold Cup, a nine-man team match between golfers from Japan and the United States. Results were based on the aggregate of the best seven scores from each team after 54 holes of

stroke play Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the ...

competition; there was also a prize for the best individual score. The event was renamed as the ABC Cup in 1972. The following year, the best eight scores were used to determine the winner, and in 1975 the event was extended to 72 holes. Between 1982 and 1984 the event was titled as the Goldwin Cup (1982–83) and the Uchida Yoko Cup (1984), during which time it was contested as stroke play matches with two points were awarded for a match win and one point for a tie. The first two rounds were played as better ball pairs and the final two rounds as singles, from which the scores were used to determine the individual winner. In 1985 the event reverted to its earlier format and name. In 1988, the tournament became a regular 72 hole stroke play event on the

, since when it has always been held at ABC Golf Club in Katō, Hyōgo. Sponsored by

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is a multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. Marlboro is PMI’s most recognized brand, but in the last quarter of 2023, Iqos generated the greatest revenue. Philip Mor ...

, it was titled using the

Lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

brand as the ABC Lark Cup or Lark Cup for five years, until 1994 when it became the Philip Morris Championship. After Philip Morris sponsorship came to an end, in 2003 the event became titled the ABC Championship, with Mynavi being added as title sponsor in 2008. In 2023, following the 2024 schedule announcement by the Japan Golf Tour, it was confirmed that the 2023 tournament would be the last and would not return from 2024 onwards.

Tournament hosts

Winners

Japan vs USA team matches

Notes

References

External links

*
Coverage on the Japan Golf Tour's official site
{{Former Japan Golf Tour Events Former Japan Golf Tour events Golf tournaments in Japan Sport in Hyōgo Prefecture Asahi Broadcasting Corporation original programming Recurring sporting events established in 1971 1971 establishments in Japan Team golf tournaments