By Michael Davis
IN elite sport, they say the second victory is almost as tough as breaking through for your maiden win.
In golf, it sometimes takes years. Indeed, some players never win another event.
Which makes the successive triumphs on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia by 22-year-old Japanese-born New Zealander, Kazuma Kobori, before a third just a few weeks later at Castle Hill in Sydney’s northwest, extremely special.
Two in row was a feat that had not been achieved since Adam Scott did it more than 10 years ago, three on the trot has historians reaching for the record books.
His third victory in his 10th start also means Kobori has the same win record as Tiger Woods at the same stage of their respective professional careers.
“Sounds good,” he said of hearing the statistic. “Probably need to get a few more wins under my belt, to be in the same conversation as that man, but it feels like I am on the right track.”
SMILING: After three wins in his first 10 starts as a pro, Kazuma Kobori has every reason to be pleased with himself.
As for comparisons to Scott, the winner of the 2013 Masters at Augusta, and we’re not saying Kobori will one day don the green Masters jacket, but his second win did come at the superbly manicured, Rosebud Country Club, often referred to as ‘the Augusta of the Mornington Peninsula’. Yes, we agree it is a long bow but….
The young Kiwi, who comes from Rangiora in Canterbury, jumped to second on the tour’s order of merit at Rosebud and maintained that standing after his victory at Castle Hill, almost assuring Kobori of earning a DP World Tour card for next season with only two events remaining on the PGA Tour of Australasia. The top three at the end of the season win 2025 playing cards in what used to be known as the European Tour.
Kobori finished at 18-under par at Rosebud to win by one shot from Malaysian women’s golfer, Ashley Lau. Veteran Mathew Goggin finished third.
“They always say the first win’s hard, and I’ll tell you what, I can speak about it now that the second one’s just as hard. But I’m glad to get the job done,” Kobori said after the win at Rosebud.
It was Goggin who presented the biggest challenge for the Kiwi for most of the final day, playing in the same group.
Ultimately, the New Zealander led by a shot from Goggin when they reached the 18th tee, a shortish par four. Goggin hit a nice approach to 25 feet, pin high. Once Kabori dumped his second shot into the right greenside trap, it was game on.
It came down to Kobori’s par putt, which was for the outright win. It rolled in dead centre.
“I was very nervous as you probably saw,” Kobori said.
“A few tips that my coach gave me just came back to me. I just took my time, and then the putt wasn’t difficult. It was dead straight. I had it there, and I knew it was going to drop.
At Castle Hill, opening rounds of 65-64 put him well and truly in the mix, before a 69 on Saturday and a 6-under par 66 in Sunday’s final round, for a 24-under par total, beat Jenny Shin by one, with the experienced Brendan Jones third.
It capped off a remarkable few weeks and an amazing past 12 months, with Kobori winning the Australian Amateur, the World Amateur representing New Zealand, the Australian tour school, and now three tournaments as a pro.
He only joined the pay for play ranks in November last year, with each of the three wins netting him $45,000. His maiden win came at the Webex Players’ Series Murray River at Cobram Barooga.
Emigrating from Japan to New Zealand as an infant, he followed his elder sister, Momoka, into professional golf. Fittingly she was at Rosebud to greet him with a hug soon after the last putt dropped.
