Honours shared through 36 holes at ISPS Handa event in Auckland
Kohei Okada – shares haflway lead at the inaugural event – image PGA of Australia
The halfway stage of the inaugural ISPS Japan / Australasia Championship at the Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club in New Zealand sees one of the Japanese golfers in the event, jointly sanctioned between the Japan and Australasian Tours, Kohei Okada, and 37-year-old NSW golfer, Jay Mackenzie, sharing the lead at 9 under.
The pair lead by one over former New Zealand Open winner, Ryan Peake, New Zealand’s Nick Voke, and another Japanese golfer, Taichi Nabetani.
Okada has yet to win on the Japan Golf Tour, but he has produced several top ten finishes in flagship events on that tour, including when 5th at last November’s Dunlop Phoenix and a 4th place at the 2025 Crowns tournament, both events considered amongst the most prestigious in Japanese men’s golf.
Mackenzie won the WA PGA in 2022 and finished runner-up in that same event, three months ago, and a 10th place finish in a much stronger field in Queenstown last week suggested his game was in reasonable shape.
The round of the day came from West Australian, Curtis Luck, who followed his disastrous opening round of 77 with a course record 64 to finish one inside the cutline and get his chance over the weekend.
The cut fell at 2 under par with 64 golfers making it through to the weekend in the A1.2 million dollar event with crucial Order of Merit points up for grabs as the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasia season draws to a close.
