Rikuya Hoshino
| Rikuya Hoshino | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Born | 12 May 1996 Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb; 12.0 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  Japan | ||
| Career | |||
| Turned professional | 2016 | ||
| Current tour(s) | European Tour Japan Golf Tour Asian Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 8 | ||
| Highest ranking | 63 (22 May 2022)[1] (as of 3 November 2024) | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| European Tour | 1 | ||
| Japan Golf Tour | 6 | ||
| Other | 1 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | DNP | ||
| PGA Championship | T60: 2022 | ||
| U.S. Open | T26: 2021 | ||
| The Open Championship | T60: 2023 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Rikuya Hoshino (星野陸也, Hoshino Rikuya; born 12 May 1996) is a Japanese professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, where he claimed his first win in 2024 at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. He has also played on the Japan Golf Tour since 2017 and has won six times on the tour.
Professional career
[edit]Hoshino turned professional in August 2016.[2] In early 2017, he won the Novil Cup on the Japan Challenge Tour.[citation needed]
Since 2017, Hoshino has played on the main Japan Golf Tour. His first win came in September 2018 at the Fujisankei Classic which he won by 5 strokes. With eight more top-10 finishes he finished 2018 as the 6th highest money winner on the tour. Hoshino qualified for the 2018 U.S. Open, his first major, where he missed the cut.[3]
In May 2019, Hoshino lost in a playoff for the Kansai Open Golf Championship before winning his second Japan Golf Tour event at the Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open in June, a tournament reduced to 54 holes. A third-place finish in the Japan PGA Championship the following week lifted him into the top-100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Later in 2019, he finished runner-up in the RIZAP KBC Augusta.[citation needed]
Hoshino won the Fujisankei Classic for the second time in 2020, beating Mikumu Horikawa at the third hole of a sudden-death playoff.[4]
In February 2024, Hoshino claimed his first victory on the European Tour at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.[5]
Professional wins (8)
[edit]European Tour wins (1)
[edit]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 Feb 2024 | Commercial Bank Qatar Masters | −14 (69-68-69-68=274) | 1 stroke |  Ugo Coussaud
|
European Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | ISPS Handa Australian Open |  Joaquín Niemann
|
Lost to eagle on second extra hole |
Japan Golf Tour wins (6)
[edit]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 Sep 2018 | Fujisankei Classic | −16 (68-68-66-66=268) | 5 strokes | Shugo Imahira
|
| 2 | 30 Jun 2019 | Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open | −20 (67-64-65=196)* | 2 strokes | Shota Akiyoshi
|
| 3 | 6 Sep 2020 | Fujisankei Classic (2) | −9 (69-69-67-70=275) | Playoff | Mikumu Horikawa
|
| 4 | 25 Apr 2021 | Kansai Open Golf Championship | −14 (66-67-68-69=270) | 2 strokes |  Chan Kim
|
| 5 | 16 May 2021 | Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup Golf | −13 (72-65-69-69=275) | 4 strokes |  Juvic Pagunsan
|
| 6 | 30 Oct 2022 | Heiwa PGM Championship | −22 (63-68-64-63=258) | 5 strokes | Aguri Iwasaki, Chan Kim
|
*Note: The 2019 Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
Japan Golf Tour playoff record (1–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019 | Kansai Open Golf Championship | Tomoharu Otsuki
|
Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole |
| 2 | 2020 | Fujisankei Classic | Mikumu Horikawa
|
Won with birdie on third extra hole |
| 3 | 2022 | Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters | Ryo Ishikawa
|
Lost to birdie on second extra hole |
Japan Challenge Tour wins (1)
[edit]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 Apr 2017 | Novil Cup | −11 (71-68-66=205) | 1 stroke | Kunihiro Kamii, Katsuyuki Sakurai
|
Results in major championships
[edit]Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.
| Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | |||||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T60 | T62 | ||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | T26 | CUT | CUT | |||
| The Open Championship | NT | CUT | CUT | T60 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
References
[edit]- ^ "Week 21 2022 Ending 22 May 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- ^ "Rikuya Hoshino". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
- ^ "Rikuya Hoshino earns U.S. Open spot as late entry". The Japan Times. 12 June 2018.
- ^ "Rikuya Hoshino makes V2 at Fujisankei CL after tough 3-hole playoffs". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ "Rikuya Hoshino wins Qatar Masters for 1st European tour title". ESPN. Associated Press. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
External links
[edit]- Rikuya Hoshino at the Japan Golf Tour official site
- Rikuya Hoshino at the Asian Tour official site
- Rikuya Hoshino at the Official World Golf Ranking official site