Rikuya Hoshino

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Rikuya Hoshino
Personal information
Born (1996-05-12) 12 May 1996 (age 27)
Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight76 kg (168 lb; 12.0 st)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
Turned professional2016
Current tour(s)European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Asian Tour
Professional wins8
Highest ranking63 (22 May 2022)[1]
(as of 24 March 2024)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour1
Japan Golf Tour6
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipT60: 2022
U.S. OpenT26: 2021
The Open ChampionshipT60: 2023
Achievements and awards
Japan Golf Tour
Rookie of the Year
2018

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 France Ugo Coussaud

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2023 ISPS Handa Australian Open Chile 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 Japan Shugo Imahira
2 30 Jun 2019 Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open −20 (67-64-65=196)* 2 strokes Japan Shota Akiyoshi
3 6 Sep 2020 Fujisankei Classic (2) −9 (69-69-67-70=275) Playoff Japan Mikumu Horikawa
4 25 Apr 2021 Kansai Open Golf Championship −14 (66-67-68-69=270) 2 strokes United States Chan Kim
5 16 May 2021 Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup Golf −13 (72-65-69-69=275) 4 strokes Philippines Juvic Pagunsan
6 30 Oct 2022 Heiwa PGM Championship −22 (63-68-64-63=258) 5 strokes Japan Aguri Iwasaki, United States 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 Japan Tomoharu Otsuki Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
2 2020 Fujisankei Classic Japan Mikumu Horikawa Won with birdie on third extra hole
3 2022 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Japan 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 Japan Kunihiro Kamii, Japan Katsuyuki Sakurai

Results in major championships[edit]

Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship CUT T60 T62
U.S. Open CUT T26 CUT
The Open Championship NT CUT CUT T60
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Week 21 2022 Ending 22 May 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Rikuya Hoshino". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Rikuya Hoshino earns U.S. Open spot as late entry". The Japan Times. 12 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Rikuya Hoshino makes V2 at Fujisankei CL after tough 3-hole playoffs". Japan Golf Tour Organization. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Rikuya Hoshino wins Qatar Masters for 1st European tour title". ESPN. Associated Press. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

External links[edit]