[Photo: Yoshimasa Nakano/R&A]
The Masters changed its tournament qualifications for 2026, allowing winners of certain national open championships into its field rather than those who win fall events on the PGA Tour. The Japan Open is one of the new additions, which also happens to be on the R&A’s list of events for its Open Qualifying Series.
Naoyuki Kataoka, the 500th-ranked player in the world coming into the week, shot a final-round 68 then made par on the first playoff hole to top Satoshi Hara and earn the two coveted exemptions into the Masters and Open Championship. Scores were relatively high for the week in Nikko as Kataoka shot 70-70-69-68 for a three-under-par 277 total. The cut came at six over par and the last position of those who made the cut was Koki Shiomi, who was 67th place at 21 over par.
Yoshimasa Nakano/R&A
Kataoka opened with a birdie on Sunday but followed it with a bogey. He birdied Nos. 6, 7 and 13, had another bogey on nine and made par on the last five holes to get into the playoff. Hara actually was in the lead with two holes remaining but made double-bogey 6 on the par-4 17th hole and closed with a birdie on the home hole to get into the playoff, which he’d lose with a bogey.
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The 27-year-old Kataoka now jumps up to No. 355 in the world. His career high is 164th back in 2021, when he won the Japan Players Championship.
This marks the first time Kataoka will play in either of the two majors. The Masters is April 9-12 at Augusta National and the Open Championship will be July 16-19 at Royal Birkdale in England.
