HOSHINO CRUISES TO VICTORY IN STYLE AT UBS JAPAN GOLF TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Showing outstanding composure in the cauldron of final day competition, Hidemasa Hoshino capped the 2008 UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship with a dominant final-day display at Japan’s ‘players championship’.

Opening the final day with a three-stroke lead, the 30-year-old posted birdies at the second and fifth holes to open an insurmountable lead and crush the challenge of the chasing pack.

A bogey on the 72nd hole may have taken the gloss off the champion’s stroll up the 18th, but his last-day one-under 70 was enough for an aggregate of 12-under 272 and an impressive five-stroke victory.

Said Hoshino: “What I have been concentrating on is how to keep my body in top condition and not to get as tired, which you need on a tough course like this. For these kind of ‘major’ tournaments you really need to be good at everything – driving, second shots and playing fades and draws – and this week I was.

“This is also the first time I have won with my parents watching. I think I have given them a great present!” said the champion.

Brendan Jones, an eight-time winner in Japan, and Takao Nogami shared second place, with Daisuke Maruyama and Kenichi Kuboya another shot back in equal fourth at six-under 278.

Defending champion Katayama endured a miserable weekend, rounds of 74-73 relegating him to joint 15th and a total of two-over, while Prayad tied 18th one more shot back.

However, the tournament, which was hosted by Shishido Hills Country Club in Ibaraki Prefecture northeast of Tokyo, boasted more winners than just Hoshino.

More than 22,000 spectators came through the gate, while, courtesy of live weekend coverage on NHK, the UBS brand reached millions of people across the country, one of UBS’s most important markets.

That exposure was complemented by unique advertising applications, enhanced print media coverage in Japan and a video news and press release programme hitting the bank’s key markets across Asia Pacific.

In the third consecutive year as title sponsor, the tournament also once again provided an outstanding platform for building the bank’s business in Japan, with activities such as two Pro-Am events, the gala dinner, the superb UBS Pavilion welcoming guests from across the businesses.

This year’s event also saw a number of new initiatives introduced, headlined by The First Step Project, which aimed to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the tournament. The final carbon impact of the event will then be offset by the purchase of credits once calculated.

The range of programmes introduced was as a varied as the environments that they were designed to protect. The Japan Golf Tour introduced campaigns to reduce, separate and recycle waste produced by the spectators, which proved phenomenally popular, while also offering local products at the public food stands to reduce the ‘food miles’ accrued by the tournament.

UBS put its weight behind The First Step, supplying all spectators with a reusable commemorative mug. Fans were able to purchase Japanese tea for a reduced rate with the mug, a portion of which was donated to local charities. A side benefit was also a significant reduction in the use of cans and bottles.

Two green charities, the Asaza Fund, which helps regenerate damaged environmental areas in Ibaraki, and the Golf Forest in the Nagano Prefecture, were also beneficiaries thanks to the daily ‘Best Performance Award’ in which UBS donated a total of ¥215,000.

In addition, UBS’s traditional programmes such as the UBS Game Improvement Zone, where fans could take complimentary golf lessons, and the UBS Simulator Challenge