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Kokona Sakurai

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Kokona Sakurai
櫻井 心那
Sakurai in December 2023
Personal information
Full nameKokona Sakurai
NicknameKoko-chan, Coconut
Born (2004-02-13) 13 February 2004 (age 20)
Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
Height166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
Turned professional2022
Current tour(s)LPGA of Japan Tour
Professional wins10
Number of wins by tour
LPGA of Japan Tour4
Other6
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipDNP
Women's PGA C'shipDNP
U.S. Women's OpenCUT: 2024
Women's British OpenT50: 2023
Evian ChampionshipDNP
Achievements and awards
1st Place in LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour Prize Money Ranking2022
GTPA Rookie of the Year2023
JLPGA Fighting Spirit Award2023
Green Hat Award of the Kyushu-Okinawa District2024

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.[1]

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).[2]

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.[3]

As a junior (11th grade) of Nagasaki Nihon University High School, Sakurai won the 1st OBS Kyushu Girls Junior Golf Tournament (2020)[4] and the 2nd OBS Kyushu Girls Junior Golf Tournament as a senior (12th grade, 2021) to make it two years in a row.[5] In her senior year, she also won the 51st Kyushu Women's Championship,[6] the 40th Kyushu Junior Golf Championship (Competition),[7] and the National High School Golf Championship Individual Division.[8] In the fall of the same year, she passed the JLPGA Player Certification Test on her first try, with a 12th-place tie finish.[9]

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 circuit for players without LPGA of Japan Tour exemptions, as the main field of professional competition.[10]

Sakurai started her pro career with a 3rd-place tie at the Rashink･NINGINEER/RKB Ladies tournament in March.[11] 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.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14][15][16]

In September, she won the Sanyoshimbun Ladies Cup[17] and The Chugoku Shimbun Chupea Ladies Cup[18] back-to-back. After placing a 26th-place tie in the next match, she won the Kanehide Miyarabi Open[19] and then the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament[20] 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.[21][22]

2023

In January, Sakurai won the Hitachi Ladies Classic of the LPGA of Taiwan Tour, her second overseas tour event.[23]

In February, Sakurai signed an affiliation agreement with the Nitori Corporation.[24][25]

In March, Sakurai signed a management contract with the Cross-Bee Sports Agency.[26] She also signed a sportswear contract with the And Per Se brand.[27]

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.[28]

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.[29][30]

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.[31][32] 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.

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.[33]

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.[34][35] 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.[36][37]

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 point rankings.[38][39]

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).[40]

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.

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)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 2 Jul 2023 Shiseido Ladies Open 71-71-68-68=278 −10 Playoff Japan Shiho Kuwaki
2 30 Jul 2023 Rakuten Super Ladies 67-69-65-66=267 −21 1 stroke South Korea Lee Min-young
3 3 Sep 2023 Golf5 Ladies 69-68-69=206 −10 1 stroke Japan Miyū Yamashita
Japan Sakura Koiwai
4 15 Oct 2023 Fujitsu Ladies Golf Tournamenta 69-63=132 −12 1 stroke Japan Chisato Iwai
Japan Miyuu Abe

a Tournament shortened due to adverse conditions.

LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour wins (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 3 Jun 2022 ECC Ladies Golf Tournament 68-67-68=203 −13 2 strokes Japan Yuka Nii
Japan Haruka Kawasaki
2 18 Sep 2022 Sanyoshimbun Ladies Cup 68-65-68=201 −15 5 strokes Japan Maria Shinohara
Japan Yumeka Kobayashi
Japan Naruha Miyata
3 24 Sep 2022 Chugoku Shimbun Chupea Ladies Cup 70-65-70=205 −11 1 stroke Japan Fumie Tsune
4 8 Oct 2022 Kanehide Miyarabi Open 66-68-72=206 −10 3 strokes Japan Yukari Nishiyama
5 16 Oct 2022 Japan-Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament 67-69-63=199 −17 7 strokes Japan Ririna Staiano
Japan Yukari Nishiyama

LPGA of Taiwan Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 8 Jan 2023 Hitachi Ladies Classic 70-71-67=208 −8 2 strokes Taiwan Chia-Yen Wu

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 2023 2024
Chevron Championship
U.S. Women's Open CUT
Women's PGA Championship
The Evian Championship
Women's British Open T50
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

World ranking

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

Year Ranking Source
2023 51 [41]

References

  1. ^ "Member Guide: Kokona Sakurai". LPGA of Japan. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  2. ^ "第９回九州小学生大会" (in Japanese). Golf Union Kyushu. 31 July 2015.
  3. ^ "2018 KCFG Ladies Golf Tournament". JLPGA. 27 April 2018.
  4. ^ "第1回OBS九州女子ジュニアゴルフ大会2020 櫻井が女子ツアーの切符 中学生は益永がＶ" (in Japanese). Golftimes. 3 April 2020.
  5. ^ "第2回OBS九州女子ジュニアゴルフ大会2021 櫻井と今村が女子ツアーの切符!! 中学生は片岡がPO制す" (in Japanese). Golftimes. 2 April 2021.
  6. ^ "第51回九州女子ゴルフ選手権2021 櫻井心那（オーシャンパレス）が通算1アンダーで逆転初優勝!!" (in Japanese). Golftimes. 13 May 2021.
  7. ^ "第４０回九州ジュニア選手権競技" (in Japanese). Golf Union Kyushu. 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ "長崎日大高3年・櫻井心那がV 上がり3ホールで鮮やか逆転 高校ゴルフ選手権・個人女子" (in Japanese). GOLF PARTNER. 27 August 2021.
  9. ^ "2021最終プロテスト合格者一覧" (in Japanese). JLPGA. 5 November 2021.
  10. ^ "QTランキング・ステップリランキング" (in Japanese). JLPGA. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  11. ^ "2022 rashink･NINGINEER/RKB LADIES". JLPGA. 30 March 2022.
  12. ^ "2022 ECC Ladies Golf Tournament". JLPGA. 3 June 2022.
  13. ^ "2022 Hokkaido Meiji Cup". JLPGA. 7 August 2022.
  14. ^ "A fairy tale win for Princess at Simone Asia Pacific Cup". ParGolf. 20 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Kokona Sakurai & Maria Shinohara Team Japan Highlights, Simone APAC Cup, 2022". Asia Pacific Golf Platform. 8 December 2023.
  16. ^ "インドネシアで日本勢トップ4位 18歳・櫻井心那の"キラキラ"一人旅" (in Japanese). Golf Digest Online. 21 August 2022.
  17. ^ "2022 SANYOSHIMBUN LADIES CUP". JLPGA. 18 September 2022.
  18. ^ "2022 The Chugoku Shimbun Chupea Ladies Cup". JLPGA. 24 September 2022.
  19. ^ "2022 Kanehide Miyarabi Open". JLPGA. 8 October 2022.
  20. ^ "2022 UDON-KEN LADIES". JLPGA. 16 October 2022.
  21. ^ "MONEY RANKING". JLPGA. 18 November 2022.
  22. ^ "後半28！櫻井心那が自分もビックリの記録更新" (in Japanese). Golf Digest Online. 16 October 2022.
  23. ^ "2023 Hitachi Ladies Classic". LPGA of Taiwan Tour. 8 January 2023.
  24. ^ "女子プロゴルファー 櫻井心那選手との所属契約締結について" (PDF) (in Japanese). Nitori Corporation. 21 February 2023.
  25. ^ "Supporting ladies professional golfers". Nitori Corporation. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  26. ^ "櫻井心那選手とマネジメント契約を締結 – 株式会社クロス・ビー". www.cross-bee.com. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  27. ^ "櫻井心那選手とウェア着用契約を締結". ゴルフウェアブランド「アンパスィ/and per se」公式サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  28. ^ "2023 KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open". JLPGA. 16 April 2023.
  29. ^ "2023 Shiseido Ladies Open". JLPGA. 2 July 2023.
  30. ^ "JLPGA Game Result: JLPGA Shiseido Ladies Open (29th June – 2nd July)". Gears Yamato. 18 July 2024.
  31. ^ "2023 Rakuten Super Ladies". JLPGA. 30 July 2023.
  32. ^ "JLPGA Game Result: JLPGA Rakuten Super Ladies (27th – 30th July)". Gears Yamato. 7 August 2023.
  33. ^ "AIG Women's Open Fife, Scotland Aug 10-13 Results". LPGA. 13 August 2023.
  34. ^ "2023 Golf5 Ladies". JLPGA. 3 September 2023.
  35. ^ "JLPGA Game Result: JLPGA Golf5 Ladies Golf Tournament (1st–3rd Sep)". Gears Yamato. 12 September 2023.
  36. ^ "2023 Fujitsu Ladies Golf Tournament". JLPGA. 15 October 2023.
  37. ^ "JLPGA Game Result: JLPGA Fujitsu Ladies 2023 (13th–15th Oct)". Gears Yamato. 24 October 2023.
  38. ^ "Money Ranking". JLPGA. 26 November 2023.
  39. ^ "Mercedes Ranking". JLPGA. 26 November 2023.
  40. ^ "＜速報＞櫻井心那がホールインワン達成 プロでは今季初". ゴルフ総合サイト ALBA Net (in Japanese). 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  41. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2023.
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