Hopes of local New Zealand Open win increase with commitment of leading players
Steve Alker – a national open would be a fitting reward for one of New Zealand golf’s finest ambassadors – image PhotosportNZ
The news this week that four of New Zealand’s top five male golfers have committed to February’s New Zealand Open is great news for tournament organisers and local golf fans.
Given the success of Steve Alker, Daniel Hillier, Kazuma Kobori, and, to a lesser extent, Ben Campbell in their respective 2025 campaigns, their involvement at the Millbrook Resort is a crucial component in the New Zealand Open’s perception among the New Zealand sporting public.
As the event looks for just its second homegrown winner in 23 years, the chances of that happening increase with the presence of the above-named well-performed players in the 105th staging of one of the world’s oldest national opens.
New Zealanders won six of seven New Zealand Opens between 1996 and 2003, the last of which was when Mahal Pearce was successful in Auckland, but it would be another 14 years until Mike Hendry won in 2017. There has been no success since.
Admittedly, the country’s number one ranked player, Ryan Fox, has not at this stage committed to the event, but given his involvement in two US$20 million Signature events on the PGA Tour either side of the New Zealand Open and a regular season event in Florida during New Zealand Open week, it is not hard to understand the two time PGA Tour winner in 2025 missing his national open as he further consolidates his position in the USA.
Alker, of course, comes off the back of another tremendously successful season on the PGA Tour Champions, winning twice, finishing inside the top three on eight other occasions and ending the season in second place in the Schwab Cup standings. He finished runner-up to Stewart Cink in his last start at the Schwab Cup Championship.
Alker has played the New Zealand Open in each of the last two years and on both occasions he has struggled to produce the sort of form he has shown on the PGA Tour Champions. But, if he can reproduce that sort of form, there is no reason why he can’t contend and possibly win his own national open, which, I imagine, along with his love of the region where he spent much time in his early years as a professional, is his motivation for supporting the event in recent years.
Alker’s profile in New Zealand, as a result of his regular exposure each week on the PGA Tour Champions, ensures he will be a key attraction in February.
Hillier continues to build his standing in professional golf, his efforts on the DP World Tour in 2025, leaving him in 18th position in the Race to Dubai rankings, earning close to NZ$3.6 million.
Hillier just missed out on gaining one of the PGA Tour cards handed out to the leading ten players in the Race to Dubai standings and not otherwise exempt for the US Tour, but, while disappointing for Hillier, that might prove to be a blessing for the New Zealand Open as he might otherwise have been obliged to play in Florida that week in an attempt to establish himself in the US.
Hillier is twice a New Zealand Amateur Champion and once an Australian Junior Amateur Champion. A New Zealand Open title appears likely to come his way in the near future, and as New Zealand’s second-highest-ranked male golfer, his presence in Queenstown is a boost for the tournament.
Kobori has just completed his rookie season on the DP World Tour and did well to make it all the way to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, finishing 44th in the standings.
The winner of the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Order of Merit in 2024 is a proven winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and with a year’s experience at a much higher level now behind him, he could well contend for the title.
In his last year as an amateur in 2023, Kobori finished 6th at Millbrook but missed the event in 2025 as he looked to consolidate his position in Europe.
Campbell seems to grow another leg when competing in the NZ Open, having finished runner-up on two occasions, including a playoff loss to Mike Hendry in 2017.
Campbell is a proven winner, having won two significant events on the Asian Tour and the New Zealand PGA Championship, but although his first season in LIV Golf in 2025 has no doubt increased his bank balance significantly, he did record just one top ten in 12 appearances.
Perhaps it is that Campbell now resides in the Queenstown region and has many friends here who are a great support during the event, but Campbell appears to love the event and it might just be that playing against and with some of the game’s greats in 2025 could result in his most important win personally.
These are perhaps the New Zealanders that will create the most interest in 2026, but Mike Hendry cannot be overlooked and is another who will again command interest given his historic win in 2017 and his liking for the region with two NZPGA wins at the nearby Hills Golf Club.
