Taiga Semikawa

Semikawa swung a plastic golf club at the age of one. He played in his first Japan Golf Tour event at the age of 14 at the 2015 Kansai Open, missing the cut. He made the cut on the Japan Golf Tour at the age of 15 at the 2016 Mynavi ABC Championship, finishing T-59th. He was leading the 2022 Kansai Open Golf Championship and 2 rounds and was in 3rd after the third round but shot 77 in the final round to finish T-17th. A month later won the Japan Create Challenge in FukuokaRaizaon on the Abema Tour by two shots over Tomofumi Ouchi. The victory was a turning point for Semikawa as he learned he had to be aggressive to win a tournament.
In September, he made a start on the Japan PGA Tour Panasonic Open. He had fired a spectacular third-round 61 to move into a tie for the lead from six behind and joint 33rd spot. He then followed it up with a 66 to beat Aguri Iwasaki by one. Semikawa became the sixth amateur to win a men's tournament since the current tour system started in 1973.
A month after he won the Panasonic Open and went top of the world amateur rankings, the Tohoku Fukushi University student made a start in the Japan Open Golf Championship and went wire-to-wire for a two-shot win over Kazuki Higa. Semikawa overcame a triple bogey on the ninth hole for the victory, and for the first time in 95 years, Semikawa became only the second amateur to capture the Japan Open since Rokuro Akahoshi won the inaugural event in 1927. His latest victory is the first time an amateur has captured two Japan Tour titles.
He decided to turn professional a few weeks later in November, and in the Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters, just his second event as a Tour member, he was out in front again after three days but shot a final round 76 to finish 8th. He ended the year T-39th at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament and T-8th at the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup.
2023 Notes: He started the year playing in three PGA Tour events finishing T-67th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, missing the cut at the American Express, and T-67th at the Farmers Insurance Open. He then played in the duel DP World Tour/Asian Tour events finishing T-60th at the Singapore Classic and missing the cut at the Thailand Classic. He then joined the Japan Golf Tour. In his second start at the Kansai Open, the same event he played for the first time as a 14-year-old, he shot a final round four-under-par 67 to win by four shots from compatriot Takahiro Hataji, his first victory as a professional. With the victory, he set a new goal to win the yearly money title on the Japan Golf Tour.

2023 Japan Tour Record
Tournament Place Score To Par 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Money Yen
Token Homemate Cup T-11 271 -13 69 65 69 68 $18,275 Yeb2,561,000
Kansai Open Win 267 -17 69 67 64 68 $112,175 Yen16,000,000
ISPS Handa Championship T-45 277 -3 66 70 70 71 $8,906 Yen1,248,096
The Crowns 3 269 -11 70 66 67 66 $153,377 Yen7,480,000
Golf Partner Pro-Am T-2 259 -21 63 65 64 67 $35,965 Yen5,040,000
Gateway To The Open Mizuno T-5 274 -14 73 69 69 63 $21,693 Yen3,040,000
BMW Japan Golf Championship T-15 281 -3 70 70 69 72 $16,805 Yen2,355,000
ASO Ilzuka Challenged T-14 272 -16 66 69 69 68 $11,227 Yen1,573,333
Hana Bank Invitational T-31 282 -10 70 70 68 71 $4,381 Yen613,963
Japan Players Championship T-22 272 -16 72 64 68 68 $3,532 Yen495,000
Shigeo Nagashima Invit. T-30 278 -10 70 69 71 68 $6,654 Yen932,500

Semikawa has won yen41,338,892 ($294,991) on the Japan Golf Tour in 2023 and is 5th on the money list.