Kenichi Kuboya ( ja, 久保谷健一, born 11 March 1972) is a Japanese professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. Kuboya won four events on the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after th ...

between 1997 and 2002, picking up two wins in each of those seasons. Both of Kuboya's wins on the Japan Golf Tour in 2002 came in playoffs against seasoned campaigners. He beat

Shingo Katayama Shingo Katayama ( ja, 片山晋呉, born 31 January 1973) is a Japanese golfer. Early life and professional career Katayama was born in Chikusei, Ibaraki Prefecture. He turned professional in 1995 and has played full-time on the Japan Golf To ...

in extra holes at the

Japan PGA Championship The is a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour, and is one of the tour's four major championships. It was founded in 1926, making it one of the oldest professional tournaments in Japan, and is played at a variety of courses througho ...

and another win against former Open champion

Todd Hamilton William Todd Hamilton (born October 18, 1965) is an American professional golfer. He is best known for his victory at the 2004 Open Championship. Early life Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in ...

at the

Munsingwear Open KSB Cup The Munsingwear Open KSB Cup was a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. It was created in 2000 as a result of the merger of two previous tournaments, the Georgia KSB Open and the Descente Classic Munsingwear Cup. The Georgia KSB O ...

. This remains the biggest win of his career. Kuboya had a brief stint on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

where he played a full season in 2003. His best finish of the year was a T13 at the

84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held from 2000 through 2006 at three different Pennsylvania courses. The event's final title sponsor was lumber company 84 Lumber. The host course from 2003 to 2006 was Mystic Rock nea ...

and he was not able to keep his card. He would go back to play on the Japan Golf Tour in 2004, where he currently plays. Kuboya played in his first major championship in 2002 at

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

, where he made the cut, but did not contend on the weekend. His next major was the

2009 Open Championship The 2009 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 138th Open Championship, held from 16–19 July at the Ailsa Course of the Turnberry Resort, in Ayrshire, Scotland. Stewart Cink won his only major championship after a f ...

at Turnberry in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He finished his first round birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie to finish in a tie for second. He would finish the tournament tied for 27th. Kuboya won his fifth Japan Golf Tour title at the 2011 Canon Open, nine years after his last win and subsequently won the 2012 Japan Open and the 2017 Panasonic Open.

Professional wins (7)

Japan Golf Tour wins (7)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...

* The

Japan Open Golf Championship The is Japan's national open golf championship. Founded in 1927, it is one of the oldest professional golf tournaments in Japan. The Japan Open is one of the three richest tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour, with a prize fund of ¥210 million in ...

is also a Japan major championship. Japan Golf Tour playoff record (3–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

References

External links