• Source: Kokona Sakurai

      • Kokona Sakurai (櫻井 心那, Sakurai Kokona) (born 13 February 2004) is a Japanese professional golfer. She plays on the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA) where she has four wins and holds the record for most wins in a season (five in 2022) for the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour.


      Early life and amateur career


      Sakurai, the youngest of a family of five with two older brothers, was born in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.
      Sakurai started playing golf at the age of six along with a brother one year her senior, out of admiration of Ryo Ishikawa whom she saw playing in person. She won the 9th Kyushu Elementary Student Golf Tournament in 2015 (6th grade).
      In her senior year of junior high school (9th grade) in 2018, she made a professional tournament debut by participating in the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour "Kyushu Mirai Construction Group Ladies," but unfortunately fell two strokes short of the cut-line.
      As a junior (11th grade) of Nagasaki Nihon University High School, Sakurai won the 1st OBS Kyushu Girls Junior Golf Tournament (2020) and the 2nd OBS Kyushu Girls Junior Golf Tournament as a senior (12th grade, 2021) to make it two years in a row. In her senior year, she also won the 51st Kyushu Women's Championship, the 40th Kyushu Junior Golf Championship (Competition), and the National High School Golf Championship Individual Division. In the fall of the same year, she passed the JLPGA Player Certification Test on her first try, with a 12th-place tie finish.


      Professional career




      = 2022

      =
      Managing only 117th place in the QT (qualifying test) rankings, Sakurai played the 2022 season on the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour, which is the lower developmental circuit for players without LPGA of Japan Tour exemptions, as the main field of professional competition.
      Sakurai started her pro career with a 3rd-place tie at the Rashink･NINGINEER/RKB Ladies tournament in March. In June, she won the ECC Ladies Golf Tournament, her first professional tournament win with a 13-under par score, shaking off same-age rival Haruka Kawasaki.
      In August, at the Hokkaido Meiji Cup, only in her second entry of a tournament of the LPGA of Japan Tour after becoming a pro, she was tied for 1st place till the 17th hole but lost out to the winner Min-Young Lee on the final hole to finish at a 2nd-place tie.
      Sakurai’s first overseas tournament was the Simone Asia Pacific Cup (Indonesia) in August, where she finished in a 4th-place tie in the individual competition (70-75-68=213) and 5th place in the team competition teaming up with Maria Shinohara. Through her experience there, she began showing interest in playing in the LPGA.
      In September, she won the Sanyoshimbun Ladies Cup and The Chugoku Shimbun Chupea Ladies Cup back-to-back. After placing a 26th-place tie in the next match, she won the Kanehide Miyarabi Open and then the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament for another two straight titles, making it 4 wins in a span of 5 weeks.
      Overall, she won five tournaments, the most seasonal wins in the history of the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour, in only 16 tournaments. She is also the youngest player ever to be ranked first in total prize money for a season, earning over 25,000,000 yen, also the most ever in a season, for the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour. In addition to her victories, she had five top-10 finishes and never failed to make the cutline. In the second half of the final day of the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament, where she had a total score of 63, she shot a 28 including two eagles for the latter half, setting a record for the lowest half score on the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour.


      = 2023

      =
      In January, Sakurai won the Hitachi Ladies Classic of the LPGA of Taiwan Tour, her second overseas tour event, beating out Wu Chia-yen.
      In February, Sakurai signed an affiliation agreement with the Nitori Corporation.
      In March, Sakurai signed a management contract with the Cross-Bee Sports Agency. She also signed a sportswear contract with the And Per Se brand.
      Having finished first in prize money in the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour the previous year, Sakurai was awarded LPGA of Japan Tour exemption for the first half of the 2023 season. She started off the season missing the cut in the first two tournaments but gradually caught on and she recorded her first top-10 finish at the KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open in April, finishing tied for 5th place.
      At the Shiseido Ladies Open in July, Sakurai started off the final day one stroke behind the leaders. She made consecutive birdies at the 17th and 18th holes on the final day to catch up with the then-new leader Shiho Kuwaki at 10-under par and won the playoff after two holes for her first win on the LPGA of Japan Tour. With this win, she was awarded exemption for the remainder of the season and the next season of 2024.
      Four weeks later at the Rakuten Super Ladies, Sakurai started off the final day in second place, two strokes behind the leader, and she shot a 66 to come from behind to win her second tournament. With this win, at the age of 19 years and 167 days old, she became the 4th youngest player, behind Ai Miyazato, Nasa Hataoka and Yuka Saso, to gain 2 career LPGA of Japan Tour wins. She also shot 11 consecutive rounds in the 60s from the second round of the Daito Kentaku e-Heya Net Ladies tournament through the Rakuten Super Ladies and the Hokkaido Meiji Cup tournaments to the second round of the CAT Ladies tournament, tying the all-time record set by Yui Kawamoto in 2019.
      On 3 August, Sakurai was informed that she had qualified for the AIG Women's Open (August 10 -13) by the category of the top 50 of the Rolex world rankings due to higher rankers qualifying through other means. She started off the first round at 2 under-par for a 7th-place tie, but could not hold on and finished at 5 over-par for a 50th-place tie.
      In September, at the Golf5 Ladies Tournament, Sakurai started play in the final group on the final day trailing by one stroke. After 17 holes she was tied with Miyū Yamashita who had already holed out and Sakura Koiwai who was in the same final group at 9-under par. She birdied the final hole to take over the sole lead and win her third tournament, again as a come-from-behind victory. With this win, she became the 3rd youngest player, behind Miyazato, and Hataoka at the age of 19 years and 202 days old to gain three career LPGA of Japan Tour wins.
      In October, at the Fujitsu Ladies Golf Tournament, with a forecast for heavy rain suggesting rainout on the third and final day, Sakurai scored a birdie on the crucial final hole on the second day to finish off with a self-record tie of 63 with nine birdies and no bogeys, taking the sole lead starting from a three-stroke deficit. On the final day, the tournament was suspended immediately after start-off due to heavy rainfall and later rained out, and thus she earned her fourth win.
      With the four come-from-behind triumphs, Sakurai became only the third teenager along with Miyazato (8) and Hataoka (5, including an LPGA win) to win four or more LPGA or LPGA of Japan Tour titles, and second only to Miyazato (5 in 2004) in seasonal victories by a teenager. With the 4 wins, she was also runner-up in the number of titles to season champion Yamashita who recorded 5, with the final one coming in the final tournament of the 2023 season to break the tie with Sakurai at 4.
      Sakurai finished the year 6th in prize money and 5th in Mercedes point rankings.


      = 2024

      =
      On 23 March, Sakurai scored her first hole-in-one after turning pro on the second day of the Axa Ladies Golf Tournament at hole 2 (par-3, 11th hole due to an in-start).
      In late May, Sakurai participated in her first U.S. Women's Open, qualifying via her top-75 in the Rolex world ranking. She shot scores of 75 and 74 for a 9-over-par finish and was 1 stroke shy of the cut line.
      In July, after an underwhelming first half of the season, Sakurai shot a 65 on the first day of the Minebea-Mitsumi Ladies Hokkaido Shimbun Cup to round out the day at a tie for first place, her first-ever first-day top finish. She ended up in sole 2nd place, four strokes behind the winner Haruka Kawasaki. This was her second runner-up finish, the previous one coming in 2022, her rookie year. The group of Sakurai, Kawasaki, and Amiyu Ozeki happened to be the first final group on the final day of a tournament on the tour to consist of members having passed the JLPGA Player Certification Test in the same year and being of the same age group.
      Sakurai qualified for the final major of the year, the AIG Women's Open via the category of the top 50 of the Women's World Golf Rankings by virtue of higher-rankers qualifying through other criteria. She shot 82, her worst since becoming a pro, then 78 for a total of 160 (+16), and missed the cut, finishing in last place (143rd) for players playing out two rounds.
      In October, at the Fujitsu Ladies Golf Tournament, competing as the defending champion, Sakurai entered play on the final day in first place (tied) for the first time on the LPGA of Japan Tour with a score of -10. Although she had a slow start, she showed a strong second half to catch up with Miyū Yamashita who eventually won the tournament by winning the playoff and Ayaka Furue who finished in 2nd place to briefly tie for the lead at -13. However, she was unable to improve her score thereafter and ended up in a 3rd place tie.
      Sakurai finished the year 27th in prize money and 28th in Mercedes point rankings.


      Amateur wins


      2015 9th Kyushu Elementary Student Golf Tournament
      2020 1st OBS Kyushu Junior Golf Tournament
      2021 2nd OBS Kyushu Junior Golf Tournament, 51st Kyushu Women's Championship Competition, 40th Kyushu Junior Golf Championship Competition, National High School Golf Championship Tournament


      Professional wins (10)




      = LPGA of Japan Tour wins (4)

      =

      a Tournament shortened due to adverse conditions.


      = LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour wins (5)

      =


      = LPGA of Taiwan Tour wins (1)

      =


      Results in LPGA majors



      CUT = missed the half-way cut
      T = tied


      World ranking


      Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.


      References




      External links


      Kokona Sakurai at the LPGA of Japan Tour official site
      Kokona Sakurai at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site
      Kokona Sakurai on Instagram

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