Hataji back to defend New Zealand Open title

Takahiro Hataji is back in New Zealand this week to defend his title following his famous victory where he became the first player from Japan to win the event.

20 JGTO members will be in the field and they include multiple winner Ryo Ishikawa along` with international players - Australians Anthony Quayle and Brad Kennedy, a two-time winner of the event in 2011 and 2020.

The NZ$ 2 million (approximately JPY 170, 252,000) tournament tees off at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown on Thursday and is co-sanctioned by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour, in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.

The event, which is now in its 104th year, features a popular Pro-Am format.

The tournament boasts a field of 156 amateurs and 156 professionals playing alongside one another. 

The professionals will compete for the New Zealand Open title, and the Brodie Breeze Trophy, while simultaneously a pairing of one professional and one amateur will play a best-ball format for the New Zealand Open Pro-Am Championship.

The field will be split across the two courses for the first round with all players alternating to the other course for the second round.

After the second round, the top 60 plus ties in the main tournament will continue to the final two rounds.

For the Pro-Am teams, the top 40 pairings will progress to compete in round three, before a third-round cut will see the top 10 Pro-Am teams progress to the final round.