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Kenichi Kuboya

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Kenichi Kuboya
久保谷 健一
Personal information
Born (1972-03-11) 11 March 1972 (age 52)
Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb; 11 st 0 lb)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
CollegeMeiji University
Turned professional1995
Current tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins7
Highest ranking73 (22 November 2009)[1]
Number of wins by tour
Japan Golf Tour7
Asian Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenT68: 2011
The Open ChampionshipT27: 2009

Kenichi Kuboya (Japanese: 久保谷 健一, born 11 March 1972) is a Japanese professional golfer.

Kuboya won four events on the Japan Golf Tour 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 in extra holes at the Japan PGA Championship and another win against former Open champion Todd Hamilton at the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup. This remains the biggest win of his career.

Kuboya had a brief stint on the PGA Tour where he played a full season in 2003. His best finish of the year was a T13 at the 84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania 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, where he made the cut, but did not contend on the weekend. His next major was the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry in Scotland. 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)

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Japan Golf Tour wins (7)

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Legend
Flagship events (1)
Japan majors (2)
Other Japan Golf Tour (6)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 11 May 1997 Fujisankei Classic –5 (68-69-73-69=279) 1 stroke Japan Yoshinori Kaneko, Japan Masashi Ozaki
2 14 Dec 1997 Daikyo Open –21 (66-64-68-65=263) 1 stroke Japan Katsunori Kuwabara, United States Brian Watts
3 19 May 2002 Japan PGA Championship –9 (74-70-68-67=279) Playoff Japan Shingo Katayama
4 26 May 2002 Munsingwear Open KSB Cup –11 (66-70-68-69=273) Playoff Japan Yoshimitsu Fukuzawa, United States Todd Hamilton
5 9 Oct 2011 Canon Open –14 (68-67-70-69=274) 5 strokes Australia Brad Kennedy, Japan Mamo Osanai,
Thailand Chawalit Plaphol
6 14 Oct 2012 Japan Open Golf Championship +8 (74-73-75-70=292) 1 stroke Philippines Juvic Pagunsan
7 23 Apr 2017 Panasonic Open Golf Championship1 –11 (69-71-69-64=273) Playoff Japan Katsumasa Miyamoto

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (3–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2002 Japan PGA Championship Japan Shingo Katayama Won with birdie on second extra hole
2 2002 Munsingwear Open KSB Cup Japan Yoshimitsu Fukuzawa, United States Todd Hamilton Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Fukuzawa eliminated by birdie on second hole
3 2011 Japan Open Golf Championship South Korea Bae Sang-moon Lost to par on first extra hole
4 2017 Panasonic Open Golf Championship Japan Katsumasa Miyamoto Won after concession on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T68
The Open Championship T59 T27 CUT
PGA Championship
  Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Match Play
Championship 64
Invitational
Champions T69
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 47 2009 Ending 22 Nov 2009" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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