Rookie Kota Kaneko held his nerve to claim a maiden DP World Tour title on his 12th start thanks to two-shot victory at the Austrian Alpine Open.
The 23-year-old from Japan, competing in his first season on the circuit, came into the final round at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith with a one-shot advantage but saw that lead evaporate quickly as he was joined by Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia following the second. The pair were soon joined by local favorite Max Steinlechner after he rallied up the leaderboard with three successive birdies.
But Kaneko found his form on the back nine with a surge of his own sinking three birdies in four holes between the 10th and 13th to regain the solo lead. But his path to victory from there was anything but straightforward as the threat of lightning saw play suspended for 71 minutes. When play resumed, Kaneko was unable to find his groove quickly as a bogey at the 15th saw him fall back to have a share for the lead. But he responded in brilliant fashion with a chip-in birdie at the 16th to take the outright lead once more. America’s Davis Bryant, who was one of his closest challengers, bogeyed the 18th to drop back alongside Gouveia and give Kaneko a crucial two-shot advantage heading into the 18th. But Kaneko experienced a big slice of luck with his tee shot which ricocheted off the stand at the back of the hole before rolling back to the green and stopping just before the water thanks to the thick rough. From then on, Kaneko maintained his composure to clinch victory with a par putt as he closed with a final-round 67 to finish on 18 under.
“I’m just really happy. I still can’t believe that I won,” Kaneko said. “[At the 16th] I knew I hit it hard, but it went in so I was lucky.
“I knew I hit the board [at the 18th] but I knew it didn’t go in the water, so I was just happy it didn’t find the water.”
Kaneko had previously tasted victory on the Japan Golf Tour last season where he won twice and went into this event in fine form after finishing T2 at last week’s Soudal Open.
Victory means he earns the first prize of $467.500 and climbs up to No. 11 in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Bryant and Gouveia both ended up finishing in a tie for second on 16 under while there was also a tie for third between Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, Italy’s Gregorio De Leo, and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello.
What is the next event?
The next event on the DP World Tour schedule is the KLM Open taking place between 4-7 June at The International in the Netherlands.