Japan Open Golf Championship

Naoyuki Kataoka qualified for The 154th Open by winning the Japan Open Golf Championship at Nikko Country Club in Tochigi.

The 27-year-old edged out Satoshi Hara – who double-bogeyed the penultimate hole – in a play-off after the pair finished on three-under-par for the week.

Royal Birkdale will be Kataoka’s first appearance at The Open.

Kataoka is the latest Japanese winner of an event that has been dominated by his countrymen, including Hideki Matsuyama in 2016, although three-time Champion Golfer Seve Ballesteros picked up back-to-back successes in 1977 and 1978.