Australian Open: Ryan Fox rates chances of first Kiwi victory at Royal Mebourne with Kazuma Kobori, Daniel Hillier
Thursday, 4 December 2025
What: DP World Tour, Australian Open. Where: Royal Melbourne Golf Club. When: Coverage from 9am Thursday (NZT), live on Sky Sport 2. First round tee times: Nick Voke 9.45am, Ryan Fox 2.05pm, Daniel Hillier 2.15pm, Kazuma Kobori 2.45pm.
When David Smail stood on the 10th tee at Royal Sydney with a four-stroke lead in the 2008 Australian Open, a significant Kiwi golfing hoodoo looked almost certain to end.
Not since one of golf’s longest-standing open tournaments was first contested in 1904 had a New Zealander’s name been inscribed on the Stonehaven Cup.
But Smail, who had played magnificently, got the late wobbles with one bad hole on 15, and was shattered to be overhauled by South African Tim Clark who beat Australian Mathew Goggin in a playoff.
That remains as close as a New Zealander has gone to raiding the prized Australian silverware, along with John Lister’s runner-up finish in 1977.
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Given Kiwi golfers have won some of the world’s biggest men’s tournaments including the British Open (Sir Bob Charles), US Open (Michael Campbell) and Players Championship (Craig Perks), and consistently attack the Australian Open in numbers, it’s a surprising gap on the honour roll.
On Thursday at Royal Melbourne, Ryan Fox will lead a compelling Kiwi charge to try and end that hoodoo and, in a first-time bonus, book a golden ticket into next April’s US Masters.
By virtue of his Canadian Open victory, Fox is already confirmed in the Masters field and the winners of six other national opens, including the Australian, will gain exemptions into the British Open and US Masters for the first time.
It was a close run thing last weekend in Brisbane as four New Zealanders all flirted with the lead at different stages in a bid to become the first Kiwi winner of the Australian PGA Championship since Greg Turner in 1999.
Nick Voke (third equal) and his former national amateur team-mate Daniel Hillier (fifth equal) were three and four shots respectively behind Spaniard David Puig who won at Royal Queensland with 18-under.
Fox, the world No 41, was clubhouse leader after the first round before fading to 12 shots off the pace in a tie for 39th in his first tournament in eight weeks - “It was a bit of a grind to be honest, there was some rust in there.” - while Kazuma Kobori led at the halfway stage before a flat final round of 75 slipped him to a tie for 25th.
All four New Zealanders return this week at what Fox labelled: “Obviously one of the great golf courses in the world”. Also playing under the Kiwi flag is the well-performed Ben Campbell, Tyler Hodge, Josh Geary, Kerry Mountcastle and Jimmy Zheng.
It’s a better field this week with all the top Australians returning and some international drawcards: none bigger than world No 2 Rory McIlroy who won his seventh European Tour order of merit last month with Hillier (18th, $3.68 million prizemoney in 2025) and Kobori (44th, $1.59 million prizemoney) in his wake.
Hillier is the shortest priced of the New Zealanders at $26 with bookmakers. He bounced back from the disappointment of missing a PGA Tour card by an agonising two places in Dubai to stay in the fight in Brisbane with rounds of 68, 67, 67 and 68.
The 27-year-old from Wellington already has a British Open spot confirmed and a Masters berth would be a significant consolation prize.
Kobori showed his class with an ace in the opening round and a sizzling second round of 63 last Friday. The 24-year-old from Canterbury is only two years into his pro career which began after he finished tied for sixth in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne in 2023.
Fox felt the layout would suit Kobori better than Royal Queensland which favoured the long hitters. “It should do - he’s exceptionally straight, he’s arguably one of the best putters on tour and his short game is fantastic. Being a positional golf course you don’t have to hit driver much, and he’ll be hitting it to the same place as everyone else - maybe one club more,” Fox said of his compatriot.
“It should suit him down to the ground and he played pretty well there in the (Asia-Pacific) amateur there a couple of years ago, and he’s obviously in good form so I expect him to be up there.”
Leading contenders (TAB odds): Rory McIlroy $5.50, Min Woo Lee $13, Marc Leishman, David Puig $15; Si Woo Kim, Joaquin Niemann, Adam Scott $17; Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen $21, Sebastian Munoz $23, Daniel Hillier $26, Ryan Fox $29. Also: Kazuma Kobori $61.