# 2002 Japan Golf Tour

The 2002 Japan Golf Tour, titled as the 2002 iiyama Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th 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.
It was the third season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Iiyama, that began in 2000.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2002 season.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (¥) | Winner | OWGR points | Notes |
| 17 Mar | Token Corporation Cup | Kagoshima | 100,000,000 | Toru Taniguchi (4) | 16 | |
| 24 Mar | Dydo Drinco Shizuoka Open | Shizuoka | 100,000,000 | Kiyoshi Murota (5) | 16 | |
| 28 Apr | Tsuruya Open | Hyōgo | 100,000,000 | Dean Wilson (5) | 16 | |
| 5 May | The Crowns | Aichi | 120,000,000 | Justin Rose (n/a) | 16 | |
| 12 May | Fujisankei Classic | Shizuoka | 140,000,000 | Nobuhito Sato (7) | 16 | |
| 19 May | Japan PGA Championship | Nara | 110,000,000 | Kenichi Kuboya (3) | 16 | Japan major |
| 26 May | Munsingwear Open KSB Cup | Kagawa | 120,000,000 | Kenichi Kuboya (4) | 16 | |
| 2 Jun | Diamond Cup Tournament | Saitama | 100,000,000 | Tsuneyuki Nakajima (46) | 16 | |
| 9 Jun | JCB Classic Sendai | Miyagi | 100,000,000 | Toru Suzuki (6) | 16 | |
| 23 Jun | Tamanoi Yomiuri Open | Hyōgo | 90,000,000 | Toru Taniguchi (5) | 16 | |
| 30 Jun | Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open | Okayama | 100,000,000 | Dean Wilson (6) | 16 | |
| 7 Jul | Japan Golf Tour Championship iiyama Cup | Tochigi | 120,000,000 | Nobuhito Sato (8) | 16 | Japan major |
| 14 Jul | Juken Sangyo Open Hiroshima | Hiroshima | 90,000,000 | Hur Suk-ho (1) | 16 | |
| 28 Jul | Sato Foods NST Niigata Open Golf Championship | Niigata | 50,000,000 | Yasuharu Imano (3) | 16 | |
| 4 Aug | Aiful Cup | Ishikawa | 120,000,000 | Yasuharu Imano (4) | 16 | |
| 11 Aug | Sun Chlorella Classic | Hokkaidō | 120,000,000 | Christian Peña (1) | 16 | |
| 1 Sep | Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta | Fukuoka | 100,000,000 | Nobumitsu Yuhara (7) | 16 | |
| 8 Sep | Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Promise Cup | Hokkaidō | 80,000,000 | Nobuhito Sato (9) | 16 | |
| 15 Sep | Suntory Open | Chiba | 100,000,000 | Shingo Katayama (11) | 16 | |
| 22 Sep | ANA Open | Hokkaidō | 100,000,000 | Masashi Ozaki (94) | 16 | |
| 29 Sep | Acom International | Ibaraki | 120,000,000 | Toru Taniguchi (6) | 16 | |
| 13 Oct | Georgia Tokai Classic | Aichi | 120,000,000 | Toru Taniguchi (7) | 16 | |
| 20 Oct | Japan Open Golf Championship | Yamaguchi | 120,000,000 | David Smail (1) | 32 | Flagship event |
| 27 Oct | Bridgestone Open | Chiba | 110,000,000 | Scott Laycock (1) | 16 | |
| 3 Nov | Philip Morris K.K. Championship | Hyōgo | 200,000,000 | Brendan Jones (1) | 16 | |
| 17 Nov | Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters | Shizuoka | 150,000,000 | Tsuneyuki Nakajima (47) | 16 | |
| 24 Nov | Dunlop Phoenix Tournament | Miyazaki | 200,000,000 | Kaname Yokoo (4) | 44 | |
| 1 Dec | Casio World Open | Kagoshima | 140,000,000 | David Smail (2) | 16 | |
| 8 Dec | Golf Nippon Series JT Cup | Tokyo | 100,000,000 | Shingo Katayama (12) | 16 | 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 | OWGR points | Notes |
| 14 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$5,600,000 | Tiger Woods | 100 | Major championship |
| 16 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$6,250,000 | Tiger Woods | 100 | Major championship |
| 21 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | £3,800,000 | Ernie Els | 100 | Major championship |
| 18 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$5,500,000 | Rich Beem | 100 | Major championship |

## Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Japanese yen.
| Position | Player | Prize money (¥) |
| 1 | Toru Taniguchi | 145,440,341 |
| 2 | Nobuhito Sato | 130,825,969 |
| 3 | Shingo Katayama | 129,258,019 |
| 4 | Dean Wilson | 97,116,100 |
| 5 | David Smail | 94,103,576 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Ref. |
| Most Valuable Player | Toru Taniguchi | |
| Rookie of the Year (Shimada Trophy) | Brendan Jones | |

## Japan Challenge Tour

The 2002 Japan Challenge Tour was the 18th season of the Japan Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the Japan Golf Tour.

### Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2002 season.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (¥) | Winner |
| 5 Apr | PRGR Cup (Kanto) | Ibaraki | 10,000,000 | Masayoshi Yamazoe (1) |
| 18 Apr | Kourakuen Cup (1st) | Oita | 10,000,000 | Tatsuhiko Ichihara (1) |
| 10 May | JGTO iiyama Challenge I | Tochigi | 10,000,000 | Shinji Ikeuchi (1) |
| 31 May | JGTO iiyama Challenge II | Mie | 10,000,000 | Nobuhiro Masuda (1) |
| 14 Jun | Aiful Challenge Cup Spring | Hyōgo | 10,000,000 | Satoru Hirota (1) |
| 28 Jun | PGA Cup Challenge | Hiroshima | 10,000,000 | Yuzo Oyama (2) |
| 11 Jul | Kourakuen Cup (2nd) | Chiba | 10,000,000 | Paul Sheehan (1) |
| 13 Sep | Aiful Challenge Cup Autumn | Aomori | 10,000,000 | Tatsuhiko Ichihara (2) |
| 27 Sep | Kasco Cup | Chiba | 10,000,000 | Hideki Haraguchi (1) |
| 4 Oct | PRGR Cup (Kansai) | Hyōgo | 10,000,000 | Hideto Tanihara (1) |
| 7 Nov | Kourakuen Cup (3rd) | Tochigi | 10,000,000 | Mitsuhiro Tateyama (2) |

### 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 2003 Japan Golf Tour.
| Position | Player | Prize money (¥) |
| 1 | Tatsuhiko Ichihara | 4,124,935 |
| 2 | Nobuhiro Masuda | 3,860,479 |
| 3 | Paul Sheehan | 3,182,692 |
| 4 | Mitsuhiro Tateyama | 2,700,000 |
| 5 | Satoshi Oide | 2,695,742 |