Hiroyuki Fujita won the Japan Tour’s season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup on Sunday, a notable accomplishment for several reasons.  To begin with, the 43-year-old veteran claimed the event for the third consecutive year, and the victory was his 15th career J Tour title – both impressive (and uncommon) milestones.  But the victory was also Fujita’s fourth of the year (following April’s Tsuruya Open, May’s Diamond Cup and September’s ANA Open) and clinched his first J Tour money title.  Fujita was Japan’s top-ranked player in 2010’s season-ending OWR, so his success has not exactly a new thing.  But in a nation focused largely on young stars Ryo Ishikawa and Yuta Ikeda, or veterans Toru Taniguchi and Shingo Katayama, Fujita’s rise to the top has not, it seems, gotten all of its just do.

2012 Japan Tour Order of Merit

1     Hiroyuki Fujita     ￥173,154,307
2     Toru Taniguchi     ￥101,467,268
3     Brendan Jones     ￥90,688,284 
4     Yuta Ikeda     ￥88,948,069 
5     Yoshinori Fujimoto     ￥87,049,274 
6     Jung-Gon Hwang     ￥84,348,350 
7     Ryo Ishikawa     ￥76,881,934 
8     Hyung-Sung Kim      ￥76,660,630 
9     Kyung-Tae Kim     ￥73,832,149 
10   Kyoung-Hoon Lee     ￥73,411,694   

Martin Kaymer’s form was cited here last week as being on upswing, and the former World Number One illustrated that point Sunday by closing with a 69 to claim the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa.  With a select 18-man field, the event is not co-sanctioned by the European Tour, but with South African stars Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen hot on his heels, Kaymer’s confidence figures to be boosted substantially by the victory …………….While the Nedbank was not co-sanctioned by the European Tour, next week’s inaugural Nelson Mandela Championship is, officially kicking off the E Tour’s 2013 campaign.  With a purse of only €1,000,000, this will be the lightest of the six (!) E Tour events being played in South Africa between now and the end of February  (schedule below).  Particularly noteworthy about this one, however, is its venue, the Royal Durban Golf Club – which should not be confused with the vastly more famous Durban Country Club, which lays along the coastal road just over a mile to the north (and will host the E Tour’s Volvo Golf Champions in January).  Royal Durban, on the other hand, not only lays slightly inland but is actually built within the Greyville Racetrack – and dates rather impressively to 1892.  The present layout (visible here) was built by Golden Age South African designer Robert Grimsdell in 1932 and has twice hosted the South African Open (1970 and ’85).  It is widely rated among Africa’s stronger (and most unique) classic designs but has, alas, always been overshadowed by its much higher-profile neighbor (course tour here).

2013 EUROPEAN TOUR SCHEDULE (Dec-Feb)

12/6 – 12/9        The Nelson Mandela Championship - Durban, South Africa
12/13 – 12/16    Alfred Dunhill Championship - Malelane, South Africa
1/10 – 1/13        Volvo Golf Champions - Durban, South Africa
1/17 – 1/20        Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship - Abu Dhabi, UAE
1/23 – 126         Commercialbank Qatar Masters - Doha, Qatar
1/31 – 2/3          Omega Dubai Desert Classic – Dubai, UAE
2/7 – 2/10          Joburg Open - Johannesburg, South Africa
2/14 – 2/17        Africa Open - East London, South Africa
2/20 – 2/24        WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship - Marana, Arizona, USA
2/28 – 3/3          Tshwane Open - Centurion, South Africa