# 2018 Japan Golf Tour

The 2018 Japan Golf Tour was the 46th season of the Japan Golf Tour (formerly the PGA of Japan Tour), the main professional golf tour in Japan since it was formed in 1973.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2018 season.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (¥) | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes |
| 21 Jan | SMBC Singapore Open | Singapore | US$1,000,000 | Sergio García (n/a) | 28 | ASA | |
| 28 Jan | Leopalace21 Myanmar Open | Myanmar | US$750,000 | Paul Peterson (1) | 19 | ASA | |
| 15 Apr | Token Homemate Cup | Mie | 130,000,000 | Atomu Shigenaga (1) | 16 | | |
| 22 Apr | Panasonic Open Golf Championship | Osaka | 150,000,000 | Rahil Gangjee (1) | 15 | ASA | |
| 29 Apr | The Crowns | Aichi | 120,000,000 | Yang Yong-eun (5) | 16 | | |
| 13 May | Japan PGA Championship | Chiba | 150,000,000 | Toru Taniguchi (20) | 16 | | Japan major |
| 20 May | Kansai Open Golf Championship | Hyōgo | 70,000,000 | Ryuko Tokimatsu (3) | 16 | | |
| 27 May | Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open | Ibaraki | 100,000,000 | Shota Akiyoshi (1) | 16 | | |
| 3 Jun | Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup Shishido Hills | Ibaraki | 150,000,000 | Kodai Ichihara (1) | 16 | | Japan major |
| 24 Jun | Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open | Fukushima | 50,000,000 | Shota Akiyoshi (2) | 16 | | |
| 8 Jul | Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup | Hokkaidō | 150,000,000 | Brad Kennedy (3) | 16 | | |
| 26 Aug | RIZAP KBC Augusta | Fukuoka | 100,000,000 | Daijiro Izumida (1) | 16 | | |
| 2 Sep | Fujisankei Classic | Yamanashi | 110,000,000 | Rikuya Hoshino (1) | 16 | | |
| 9 Sep | ISPS Handa Match Play | Saitama | 230,000,000 | Thanyakon Khrongpha (1) | 16 | | |
| 16 Sep | ANA Open | Hokkaidō | – | Cancelled | – | | |
| 23 Sep | Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup Golf | Saitama | 150,000,000 | Yuta Ikeda (20) | 15 | ASA | |
| 30 Sep | Top Cup Tokai Classic | Aichi | 110,000,000 | Angelo Que (1) | 16 | | |
| 14 Oct | Japan Open Golf Championship | Kanagawa | 200,000,000 | Yuki Inamori (1) | 32 | | Flagship event |
| 21 Oct | Bridgestone Open | Chiba | 150,000,000 | Shugo Imahira (2) | 16 | | |
| 28 Oct | Mynavi ABC Championship | Hyōgo | 150,000,000 | Yuta Kinoshita (1) | 16 | | |
| 4 Nov | Heiwa PGM Championship | Okinawa | 200,000,000 | Shaun Norris (3) | 16 | | |
| 11 Nov | Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters | Shizuoka | 200,000,000 | Tatsunori Nukaga (1) | 18 | | |
| 18 Nov | Dunlop Phoenix Tournament | Miyazaki | 200,000,000 | Kodai Ichihara (2) | 30 | | |
| 25 Nov | Casio World Open | Kōchi | 200,000,000 | Choi Ho-sung (2) | 16 | | |
| 2 Dec | Golf Nippon Series JT Cup | Tokyo | 130,000,000 | Satoshi Kodaira (7) | 17 | | Japan major |

### Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (¥) | Winner(s) | OWGR points | Notes |
| 8 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$11,000,000 | Patrick Reed | 100 | Major championship |
| 6 May | Legend Charity Pro-Am | Chiba | 50,000,000 | Shugo Imahira | n/a | Pro-Am |
| 17 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$12,000,000 | Brooks Koepka | 100 | Major championship |
| 22 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | US$10,500,000 | Francesco Molinari | 100 | Major championship |
| 12 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$11,000,000 | Brooks Koepka | 100 | Major championship |
| 9 Dec | Hitachi 3Tours Championship | Chiba | 57,000,000 | Japan PGA Senior Tour | n/a | Team event |

## Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.
| Position | Player | Prize money (¥) |
| 1 | Shugo Imahira | 139,119,332 |
| 2 | Shaun Norris | 103,942,450 |
| 3 | Yuki Inamori | 85,301,742 |
| 4 | Kodai Ichihara | 82,245,918 |
| 5 | Yuta Ikeda | 79,671,825 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Ref. |
| Most Valuable Player | Shugo Imahira | |
| Rookie of the Year (Shimada Trophy) | Rikuya Hoshino | |

## Japan Challenge Tour

The 2018 Japan Challenge Tour, titled as the 2018 AbemaTV Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 34th season of the Japan Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the Japan Golf Tour.

### AbemaTV title sponsorship

In January, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with AbemaTV, being renamed as the AbemaTV Tour.

### Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2018 season.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (¥) | Winner |
| 1 Apr | Novil Cup | Tokushima | 15,000,000 | Park Bae-jong (1) |
| 20 Apr | i Golf Shaper Challenge | Fukuoka | 15,000,000 | Naoto Takayanagi (1) |
| 27 Apr | Japan Create Challenge | Fukuoka | 15,000,000 | Shoji Kawai (1) |
| 18 May | Heiwa PGM Challenge I Road to Championship | Ibaraki | 15,000,000 | Keisuke Kondo (1) |
| 8 Jun | ISPS Handa Challenge Cup | Chiba | 20,000,000 | Ryosuke Kinoshita (1) |
| 22 Jun | Landic Challenge | Fukuoka | 15,000,000 | Taihei Sato (1) |
| 29 Jun | Minami Akita CC Michinoku Challenge | Akita | 15,000,000 | Kazuki Higa (1) |
| 14 Sep | Heiwa PGM Challenge II Road to Championship | Tottori | 15,000,000 | Dodge Kemmer (1) |
| 21 Sep | Elite Grips Challenge | Hyōgo | 15,000,000 | Taihei Sato (2) |
| 6 Oct | Ryo Ishikawa Everyone Project Challenge | Tochigi | 15,000,000 | Taiji Maekawa (1) |
| 19 Oct | Taiheiyo Club Challenge Tournament | Saitama | 15,000,000 | Tomohiro Umeyama (2) |
| 26 Oct | JGTO Novil Final | Ibaraki | 15,000,000 | Yuki Kono (3) |

### Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen. The top 20 players on the money list earned status to play on the 2019 Japan Golf Tour.
| Position | Player | Prize money (¥) |
| 1 | Taihei Sato | 7,256,163 |
| 2 | Tomohiro Umeyama | 5,338,803 |
| 3 | Naoto Takayanagi | 4,813,256 |
| 4 | Ryosuke Kinoshita | 4,251,987 |
| 5 | Takaya Onoda | 3,736,339 |