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Kiwi Kobori's pay day at British Masters
Duncan Perkinson • August 25th, 2025 12:40 pm
Photo: Evan Barnes/Photosport
New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori has secured his highest finish on the DP World Tour, finishing tied-second at The British Masters at The Belfry in England’s West Midlands.
The title was won by Sweden’s Alex Norén, who finished just a shot ahead of Kobori.
Starting the day in a tie for 8th, Kobori shot a seven under par 65 to climb the leaderboard.
It was a late surge which propelled Kobori up the leaderboard as he finished his round with four birdies and an eagle over his last six holes.
There were not just one, but two massive putts on the last two holes, both from almost 60 feet.
It left Kobori as the clubhouse leader, and he had to watch as Norén and Nicolai Hojgaard finished their rounds.
It was a dramatic finish as Noren started his final hole with a two shot-lead but after finding the rough, and having to chip out, eventually needed a six-foot putt to make his bogey to secure the victory.
Kobori was one of the first to congratulate Noren as he left the 18th green.
The win earned Kobori a touch over NZ$521,000 as he moves into the top 25 for the Race To Dubai.
Starting the week, ranked No. 234, it is expected when the rankings are released, his tied 2nd place finish will see him move inside the World’s Top 200 for the first time in his career. He started the year ranked 376.
The British Masters was also the final qualifying event for the European Ryder Cup team and with Europe’s captain Luke Donald playing, it was a final chance for players to stake their claim for one of the six Captain’s picks.
The Belfry was an appropriate venue to host the final qualifying event as the course has hosted The Ryder Cup four times.
With a 13th place finish Rasmus Hojgaard, Nicolai’s twin brother, secured the final automatic qualifying spot by finishing in a tie for 13th.
The six automatic qualifiers are: Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Rasmus Hojgaard.
Luke Donald will announce his six picks for this year’s Ryder Cup on Monday afternoon September 2nd (UK time) with Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, and Jon Rahm among those likely to be in the team.
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