Jinichiro Kozuma knows all about the pressure of play-offs. The Japanese star held his nerve when it mattered most to earn one of three places in the lucrative LIV Golf League for the 2024 season by emerging from a sudden-death shoot out at the inaugural LIV Golf Promotions event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in December.
The IronHeads GC star did it again at the weekend, to claim a third win on the Japan Tour at the Sansan KBC Augusta, held in Itoshima on the Fukuoka Prefecture.
Kozuma. who recorded a top-10 finish at International Series Morocco earlier this season, outfought compatriot Yuwa Kosaihira on the second play-off hole to triumph, bouncing back after successive bogeys on his last two holes in regulation.
The pair both parred the first play-off hole, and after Kosaihira hit his drive out of bounds on the second play-off hole, par was enough for Kozuma.
The 30-year-old, who previously won the Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters in 2020 and the Token Homemate Cup in 2022, was proud to secure a third Japanese title in front of his wife and son. He said: “This is the first time my family is watching me in contention on the final day. I wanted to win it so badly for them. Winning in front of my family has always been a goal and I’m glad I achieved it today.”
Kozuma and 2023 International Series Vietnam champion Kieran Vincent emerged triumphant from that thrilling three-man play-off in Abu Dhabi, to join Finland’s Kalle Samooja on the LIV Golf League roster.
The International Series Rankings is set to step up a gear in the second half of the year with a run-in that will see the champion crowned and plenty more decided over six key dates in an eight-week stretch.
First up on The International Series schedule is the Black Mountain Championship from 14-17 October; the first of two tournaments in consecutive weeks in Thailand. International Series Thailand follows the week after at the Thai Country Club in Bangkok from 21-24 October, before the BNI Indonesian Masters at Royale Jakarta Golf Club completes a three-week swing from 31 October to 3 November.
Another three tournaments in three weeks will then complete the set of 10 elevated events for the 2024 season, with the LINK Hong Kong Open taking place from 21-24 November before the series moves on to the Middle East for International Series Qatar (27-30 November) and the season-ending US$5m PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers in Riyadh from 4-7 December.
The winner of The International Series Rankings race will earn an automatic spot on the LIV Golf League roster, following in the footsteps of Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent and American Andy Ogletree, the champions for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Around 30 of the top-ranked players will also be eligible for entry into LIV Golf Promotions, the innovative four-round, three-day event which ultimately proved a gateway onto LIV for Kozuma, Vincent and Samooja.
The International Series is the most prized pathway in golf. It consists of 10 elite tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour and offers the year-long Rankings leader promotion to the LIV Golf League
