Taichi Kho is living out his dream as a professional on the global stage. A little over a year after joining the paid ranks, he has already made history as the first Hong Kong golfer to play at The Open and now has his sights set on impressing on the DP World Tour.
After a stellar amateur career in which he won on six occasions and finished runner-up to DP future DP World Tour winner Keita Nakajima at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Kho joined the paid ranks in January 2023.
He promptly made his professional debut at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour and while he missed the cut, it was just a month later when he celebrated success in the paid ranks as he etched his name into the record books by becoming the first Hong Kong golfer to win an Asian Tour title at the rain-shortened World City Championship.
With the victory he qualified for his Major Championship appearance in The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
In addition to his victory in Hong Kong, he recorded five other top tens on the Asian Tour last year and won the gold medal at the Asian Games in China.
Ahead of just his sixth start on the DP World Tour as a professional at this week's Volvo China Open, we speak to the 23-year-old invite as he looks to continue making his mark on the professional stage.
How excited are you ahead of this latest opportunity to play on the DP World Tour?
It is great to be out here, so I am super grateful and honoured to get an invite from the DP World Tour again. Anytime I have an opportunity out here I really cherish it and make the most out of it. In terms of this specific invite, I have a lot of good memories from this place (Hidden Grace Golf Club). We played here for the Volvo China Open not too long ago where I had a pretty good finish so hopefully, I get to expand on that and improve on that.
How have you found the transition over the last year or so since adjusting from successful amateur to professional?
Playing professional golf so far really is a dream come true. It is something that I have always wanted to do since I picked up the game. It is really great to be living out this dream, especially when I get to play out here. I see a lot of players who I grew up looking at so it is really cool for me to actually compete with them and learn with them. It has been a really great learning curve so far and I have played some great golf and not so good golf along the way but I am taking in everything in my stride. I can’t complain about anything.
What have you learned so far about yourself when testing yourself against some of the best?
Playing in The Open Championship was by far the best experience I have ever had in my career so far. I didn’t play great but in terms of all the things that I learned and being in that atmosphere it is something that I really want to go back to. It is very motivating for me to continue my journey and very motivating for me to get 1% better each day. Hopefully in a few years’ time I get to compete at that level week in week out. It is definitely something that I look forward to.
Having finished second in this event last year, what test are you expecting from this week’s venue?
I think this golf course is doing a great job at taking the hard weather recently. I went out for a practice round yesterday and the course is in great shape considering all the rain. I think the course will hold up to its true potential. It is a great test tee to green, it is very fair around the greens. There are some big undulating slopes but overall, I think it is a really fair test of golf and you will see some great golf out there.
Do you feel any sense of added expectation playing in front of friends or family at a venue you have performed well at?
I feel really comfortable being out here. I think just knowing the golf course well, having some friends and family from back home to support me out here… I feel like there is a lot of momentum on my side when I am out there so I definitely feel comfortable in my shoes out here and hopefully it translates to some good golf.
