Jinichiro Kozuma’s outstanding performance in the opening round of the LIV Golf Adelaide has garnered him enough praise. He shot a brilliant bogeyless round of 9 under 63 at the Grange Golf Club on Friday. Interestingly, it is also his lowest opening round in the league.
Who is this golfer shooting fires at LIV’s most successful event? That’s the biggest question every fan has right now. Jinichiro Kozuma is a professional golfer born in 1994 in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. He has been on the professional golf circuit since 2012.
As per his Japan Golf Tour profile, he started playing golf at the tender age of two. He also has a two-year elder sister, Kotono Kozuma who is also a professional golfer. She primarily plays on the JLPGA Tour.
Kozuma started his pro golf career on the Japan Golf Tour and has been a two-time winner with his first victory being the 2020 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters and the second being the 2022 Token Homemate Cup. The Japanese golfer also has two more professional titles under his belt, the 2016 Elite Grips Challenge and the 2021 Kyusyu Open.
He also represented Japan in the 2012 Eisenhower Trophy as an amateur, alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Kenta Konishi.
How Did Jinichiro Kozuma Venture Into LIV Golf?
When the Saudi-backed league started in 2022, Kozuma played at three invitational series events in London, Portland, and Bedminster. However, he was later left out of the roster until he got a spot back through the 2023 LIV Golf Promotional event. He ended up tied second to the winner Kalle Samooja to earn a place in the 2024 season alongside Kieran Vincent.
But getting a place in the 2024 LIV Golf season was not a cakewalk for the Japanese golfer. After Samooja secured a win at Abu Dhabi, three golfers were tied for the second rank on the top – Jinichiro Kozuma, Kieran Vincent, and Laurie Canter. They were asked to face each other in a sudden-death playoff to decide who would fill the remaining two spots.
However, Canter missed his chance after he shot the ball into the water near the 18th hole. Vincent and Kozuma eventually shot a birdie and a par to book their slots in the 2024 season.
The Japanese golfer has already played five events in his first season as a full-time member. Although his first five starts were not quite memorable, he is leading the table after the end of the first round at LIV Golf Adelaide. If everything goes well, he might go on to win his first LIV Golf title.
