Kazuma Kobori will tee it up on the DP World Tour next season after being assured of finishing top of the 2023/2024 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
The Kiwi star, a three-time winner since January after earning his Tour card by winning Qualifying School last April, has an unassailable lead with just one event remaining.
Six other players are still in the hunt for the final two DP World Tour cards ahead of this week’s The National Tournament presented by BMW at The National Golf Club.
Kobori, 22, only turned professional at the start of November.
But he is now safe in the knowledge he will have status when the 2025 DP World Tour commences with the Australian PGA Championship from November 21-24.
“It’s fantastic; it’s a dream come true,” he said of his Order of Merit rewards.
“I’ll be 23 by the time I start my DP World Tour season properly but that’s way further ahead of my timeline than I could have ever imagined.
“This is the pathway that I planned out for myself but it’s gone much more quickly than I had thought.”
Kobori has also earned an exemption to the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon in July.
“I was just trying to get the DP World Tour card for next year and then my manager called me a couple of days after NZ Open and said that I had The Open sealed up too,” said Kobori.
“That’s pretty cool. For me, it was a bit of a bonus because I actually didn’t know that was part of the deal.
“Needless to say, I’ll take it.”
