Hideki Matsuyama became the first rookie to win the Japan Tour money list when he clinched his fourth victory of the season at the Casio World Open.
The 21-year-old only turned professional in April but capped a brilliant debut season by pipping Yuta Ikeda at the Kochi Kuroshio Country Club course in southern Japan.
He held on to his overnight lead to defeat Ikeda by just one stroke with a final round 70 for a 12-under-par total of 276.
"It makes me happy to win a tournament and clinch the money title at a course where I practised golf when I was in middle school and high school," Matsuyama said.
"I have never played so patiently in tournaments in which I led going into the final round. I managed to hold on."
Matsuyama's victory increased his winnings for the year to an unassailable 201 million yen with one more tournament left in the Japan Tour's 25-event season.
Matsuyama has yet to win abroad but he tied for sixth on his debut at The Open at Muirfield this year, finished joint 10th at the US Open and 19th at the PGA Championship.
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