Miñoza will be playing his third tournament early next month, the Tsuruya Open in Hyogo, seeking to end a two-year-long victory drought and atone for his so-so campaign that left him in 37th place finish in the Order of Merit ranking last year.
He nearly won last Sunday after battling back from nine strokes down to force a playoff with Japanese pro Eiji Mizoguchi with a closing four-under 68-279 at the Shizuoka Country Hamaoka Course.
But the 42-year-old Miñoza, who last won in 1998, failed to sustain his final round charge and holed out with a bogey on the first playoff hole, which Mizoguchi, who wound up with a horrendous 77, parred.
Miñoza won $83,000, around P4 million, the runner-up finish sure to augur well for his campaign this year.
Meanwhile, Gerald Rosales failed to come up with a top 10 finish as he struggled with a final round 72-280 and settled for joint 12th in the $300,000 Wills Indian Open in New Delhi, India.