Kiwi golfing phenom Kazuma Kobori will leap ahead on his professional timeline, when he contests next week's US PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Course in Kentucky.
Kobori, 22, has earned a late invitation to the Major, based on his success on the 2023/24 PGA of Australasia Order of Merit.
"I knew my manager was pushing for the invite, but my ranking is not as high as others in the world," he concedes. "I'm very grateful for the invite."
The Japanese-born Cantabrian admits, when he turned pro, contesting Majors was not on his radar.
"It's unexpected," he said. "I'm 22 and I'm playing my first Major.
"Starting my professional career in November, I just wanted to keep my Aussie tour card this year, maybe grab a top-10 order of merit to get me into second stage of qualifying school for Europe.
"It's gone quickly and I'm just trying to ride the wave."
Kobori's early breakthrough has already earned entry into the British Open Championship at Royal Troon in July. This surprise acceptance to Valhalla will usurp that appointment.
"I'm sure there will be a lot of learning going on next week, so I'm looking forward to it," he said.
Kobori plans to make contact with fellow Kiwi Ryan Fox to pick his brains over the big step that confronts him.
"I've had a session with a sports psychologist that I work with and he just said to be a bit more mindful of everything you're doing, because everything will be a bit more," he said.
"The crowd will be bigger, the nerves will be a bit bigger, so just be more mindful of what you're doing, whether it be breathing or nutrition, gym work, practice and all that."
That attention to detail has been a major lesson so far in his professional journey, which has seen him miss cuts in DP World events in India and Japan.
"It sounds really basic, but you don't really know how important each shot is," said Kobori. "Last week, i finished one under and missed the cut by two, but if i was four shots better - that's two shots per round, one per nine - I would have been top 30.
"There's more emphasis on the small stuff, like hitting a really basic chip shot to seven feet, instead of five feet, could be the difference of a shot. It wasn't something I was familiar with in Aussie, where there are a lot more opportunities to make shots up.
"On DP World Tour courses, I found there weren't so many - that was probably the biggest lesson I learnt."
Kobori was 12 last time the PGA was contested at Valhalla and admits he will need some late cramming on the iconic venue.
"I'm going to have to do some research," he said. "I wasn't really expecting to get into this one, so I'll have to do some last-minute research, but from what I can see, the rough is really long and hitting the driver straight is important.
"I just want to be able to play my game, so that I'll have an understanding of where my game stands with everyone else in the world. This is one of the rare occasions to play against the best in the world, so it's a benchmark to see where I'm at.
"As long as I stay out of my own way and play my game as well as I can, that's my only goal for next week."
