In the latest in the All To Play For series, Kazuma Kobori discusses his heritage giving him the best of both worlds, sibling rivalry, the incredible end to his amateur and start of his professional career, staying true to himself and his ambitions for the future.
Kazuma Kobori was just 17 years old and still an amateur when he won the New Zealand PGA Championship on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
That he chose to stay an amateur for another four-and-a-half years after that win perhaps tells you much of what you need to know about the man who does not turn 24 until later this month.
He may be a self-confessed "free spirit" but the DP World Tour rookie clearly has a wise head on young shoulders.
"I was born in Japan but through my dad's work we moved to New Zealand when I was young and then I obviously learned the ability to speak English which is a pretty important skill," he said. "I started golf when I was ten. So had I not moved to New Zealand, I would never have played golf.
"I think I got the best of both worlds because in Japan people are really strict on rules and very disciplined, which I think is a very good trait.
"And in New Zealand it's a bit more free. Use your imagination and then be respectful but do what you want. So I think I got the best of both worlds."
Not only did Kobori have a grounding from his heritage but also from his older sister Momoka, who plays on the Ladies European Tour.
A healthy sibling rivalry can drive you a long way and Kobori admits his sister was a big influence as he got into the game.
"She's been a great role model," he said. "She plays the game similarly to how I do but in a different mindset. She's very disciplined, she likes routine. I'm kind of more like a free spirit. I like to do what I feel like doing.
"But she was always ahead of me growing up. So she was always a good benchmark to try and beat, pretty much most of my amateur career. So, yeah, thank you to my sister."
The end of Kobori's amateur career was spectacular as he won the Australian Amateur, the Western Amateur in the United States and claimed individual honours at the Eiesenhower Trophy in 2023.
That form not only gave him the confidence that he could hack it in the paid ranks but that he could win and so it proved as he claimed three victories in four weeks en route to winning the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit and a DP World Tour card.
"I turned professional after the Asia Pacific and the Eisenhower, so I was in hot form," he said. "I knew I could win by the end of the season. I didn't think I was going to win three times but it was like I knew for sure that I had the ability to win.
"There are certain nuances within professional golf that you just cannot replicate in amateur golf. For example, you don't get nearly as enough time to prepare.
"And I was just thinking about this the other day, but in amateur golf, you have four or five events in a year and you really dial into those events and everything else is basically an opportunity to get better or to prime yourself for those events. Whereas out here, every week is a big deal. So you have to be there ready trying to perform every single week."
With the help of some advice from fellow Antipodean Tour members of past and present, Kobori has rarely been in danger of losing his card in his debut DP World Tour season, with a runner-up finish at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo rocketing him up the Race to Dubai Rankings and helping earn him a Rolex Series debut at the BMW PGA Championship.
"I think that was the event that secured my card for next season," he said if his week at The Belfry. "And that was the biggest thing, there are certain situations out on the golf course where I just couldn't play very freely because, if you make a birdie, you go up five places. You make bogey, you go down 20. So I couldn't afford to take that risk. I had to play quite safe, I felt like.
"So having done that, now I don't have that pressure. I was able to play my own game and really figure out where that led me. So it was a massive win in terms of financial and performance."
He added: "I always thought that the best way to get better at golf is to spend more time with the best players. So having played the Rolex Series, I got the opportunity to do that. The level of golf is just so different, even to a regular event.
"On the Saturday I played a bit later, so bit tougher conditions. I played a bit average, fought back well to shoot level par, and I've gone from 15th to, like, 46th. I'm like, ‘what have I done to get this?’.
Hopefully I can be a player that can inspire the next wave of New Zealand players
"But that's just how good the guys are. And then to be fair, I look back at the leaderboard, and all the guys are just, like, either past winners, PGA TOUR players or guys having unbelievable seasons."
At 32nd on the Race to Dubai, Kobori is guaranteed a place in the DP World Tour Play-Offs and could yet battle his way into a spot for dual membership with the PGA TOUR.
He believes that could help him in his goal of making a Presidents Cup team but one of his main ambitions is simply to keep being himself while inspiring those like him.
"I'm not really one to think too much about what people think about me," he said. "I like to stay my own way and do my business. But hopefully I can be a player that can inspire the next wave of New Zealand players.
“You know, we have a few more than when Foxy was playing out here, but I think we still have the opportunity to get more. So, yeah, hopefully, show the guys that it can be done."
