Kokona Sakurai

Kokona Sakurai
櫻井 心那
Sakurai in December 2025
Personal information
Full nameKokona Sakurai
NicknameKoko-chan, Coconut
Born (2004-02-13) 13 February 2004
Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
Height166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
Turned professional2022
Current tourLPGA of Japan Tour
Professional wins11
Number of wins by tour
LPGA of Japan Tour5
Other6
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipDNP
Women's PGA C'shipDNP
U.S. Women's OpenCUT: 2024
Women's British OpenT50: 2023
Evian ChampionshipDNP
Achievements and awards
1st Place in LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour Prize Money Ranking2022
GTPA Rookie of the Year2023
JLPGA Fighting Spirit Award2023
Green Hat Award of the Kyushu-Okinawa District2024

Kokona Sakurai (櫻井 心那, Sakurai Kokona) (born 13 February 2004) is a Japanese professional golfer. She plays on the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA) where she has five wins and holds the record for most wins in a season (five in 2022) for the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour.[1]

Early life and amateur career

Sakurai, the youngest of a family of five with two older brothers, was born in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.

Sakurai started playing golf at the age of six along with a brother one year her senior, out of admiration of Ryo Ishikawa whom she saw playing in person. She won the 9th Kyushu Elementary Student Golf Tournament in 2015 (6th grade).[2]

In her senior year of junior high school (9th grade) in 2018, she made a professional tournament debut by participating in the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour "Kyushu Mirai Construction Group Ladies," but unfortunately fell two strokes short of the cut-line.[3]

As a junior (11th grade) of Nagasaki Nihon University High School, Sakurai won the 1st OBS Kyushu Girls Junior Golf Tournament (2020)[4] and then the 2nd OBS Kyushu Girls Junior Golf Tournament as a senior (12th grade, 2021) to make it two years in a row.[5] In her senior year, she also won the 51st Kyushu Women's Championship,[6] the 40th Kyushu Junior Golf Championship (Competition),[7] and then the National High School Golf Championship Individual Division to become the national champion.[8] In the fall of the same year, she passed the JLPGA Player Certification Test on her first try, with a 12th-place tie finish.[9]

Professional career

2022

Managing only 117th place in the QT (qualifying test) rankings, Sakurai played the 2022 season on the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour, which is the lower developmental circuit for players without LPGA of Japan Tour exemptions, as the main field of professional competition.[10]

Sakurai started her pro career with a 3rd-place tie at the Rashink･NINGINEER/RKB Ladies tournament (March 29-30).[11] In June, she won the ECC Ladies Golf Tournament (June 1-3), her first professional tournament win with a 13-under par score, shaking off same-age rival Haruka Kawasaki.[12]

At the Hokkaido Meiji Cup (August 5-7), only in her second entry of a tournament of the LPGA of Japan Tour after becoming a pro, she was tied for 1st place till the 17th hole but lost out to the winner Min-Young Lee on the final hole to finish at a 2nd-place tie.[13]

Sakurai's first overseas tournament was the Simone Asia Pacific Cup (August 18-20, Indonesia), where she finished in a 4th-place tie in the individual competition (70-75-68=213) and 5th place in the team competition teaming up with Maria Shinohara. Through her experience there, she began showing interest in playing in the LPGA.[14][15][16]

She won the Sanyoshimbun Ladies Cup (September 16-18)[17] and The Chugoku Shimbun Chupea Ladies Cup (September 22-24)[18] back-to-back. After placing a 26th-place tie in the next match, she won the Kanehide Miyarabi Open (October 6-8)[19] and then the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament (October 14-16)[20] for another two straight titles, making it 4 wins in a span of only 5 weeks.

Overall, she won five tournaments, the most seasonal wins in the history of the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour, in only 16 tournaments. She is also the youngest player ever to be ranked first in total prize money for a season, earning over 25,000,000 yen, also the most ever in a season, for the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour. In addition to her victories, she had five top-10 finishes and never failed to make the cutline. In the second half of the final day of the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament, where she had a total score of 63, she shot a 28 including two eagles for the latter half, setting a record for the lowest half score on the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour.[21][22]

Besides her accomplishments on the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour, she played in five LPGA of Japan Tour tournaments, made one top-5 finish,[23] was 92nd in earnings,[24] and was 94th in Mercedes point rankings.[25]

2023

In January, Sakurai won the Hitachi Ladies Classic of the LPGA of Taiwan Tour (January 6-8), her second overseas tour event, beating out Wu Chia-yen.[26]

In February, Sakurai signed an affiliation agreement with the Nitori Corporation.[27][28]

In March, Sakurai signed a management contract with the Cross-Bee Sports Agency.[29] She also signed a sportswear contract with the And Per Se brand.[30]

Having finished first in prize money in the LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour the previous year, Sakurai was awarded LPGA of Japan Tour exemption for the first half of the 2023 season. She started off the season missing the cut in the first two tournaments but gradually caught on and she recorded her first top-10 finish at the KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open in April, finishing tied for 5th place.[31]

At the Shiseido Ladies Open (June 29-July 2), Sakurai started off the final day one stroke behind the leaders. She made consecutive birdies at the 17th and 18th holes on the final day to catch up with the then-new leader Shiho Kuwaki at 10-under par and won the playoff after two holes for her first win on the LPGA of Japan Tour. With this win, she was awarded exemption for the remainder of the season and the next season of 2024.[32][33]

Four weeks later at the Rakuten Super Ladies (July 27-30), Sakurai started off the final day in second place, two strokes behind the leader, and she shot a 66 to come from behind to win her second tournament.[34][35] With this win, at the age of 19 years and 167 days old, she became the 4th youngest player, behind Ai Miyazato, Nasa Hataoka and Yuka Saso, to gain 2 career LPGA of Japan Tour wins. She also shot 11 consecutive rounds in the 60s from the second round of the Daito Kentaku e-Heya Net Ladies (July 20-23) tournament through the Rakuten Super Ladies and the Hokkaido Meiji Cup (August 4-6) tournaments to the second round of the CAT Ladies tournament (August 18-20), tying the all-time record set by Yui Kawamoto in 2019.[36]

On 3 August, Sakurai was informed that she had qualified for the AIG Women's Open (August 10 -13) by the category of the top 50 of the Rolex world rankings due to higher rankers qualifying through other means. She started off the first round at 2 under-par for a 7th-place tie, but could not hold on and finished at 5 over-par for a 50th-place tie.[37]

At the Golf5 Ladies Tournament (September 1-3), Sakurai started play in the final group on the final day trailing by one stroke. After 17 holes she was tied with Miyū Yamashita who had already holed out and Sakura Koiwai who was in the same final group at 9-under par. She birdied the final hole to take over the sole lead and win her third tournament, again as a come-from-behind victory.[38][39] With this win, she became the 3rd youngest player, behind Miyazato, and Hataoka at the age of 19 years and 202 days old to gain three career LPGA of Japan Tour wins.

At the Fujitsu Ladies Golf Tournament (October 13-15), with a forecast for heavy rain suggesting rainout on the third and final day, Sakurai scored a birdie on the crucial final hole on the second day to finish off with a self-record tie of 63 with nine birdies and no bogeys, taking the sole lead starting from a three-stroke deficit. On the final day, the tournament was suspended immediately after start-off due to heavy rainfall and later rained out, and thus she earned her fourth win.[40][41] With this win she raised her world ranking to 45th (16 October 2023).

Sakurai was selected as a member of the 6-member JLPGA team of the Hitachi 3Tours Championship (December 10) and contributed to their victory.[42]

With the four come-from-behind triumphs, Sakurai became only the third teenager along with Miyazato (8) and Hataoka (5, including an LPGA win) to win four or more LPGA or LPGA of Japan Tour titles, and second only to Miyazato (5 in 2004) in seasonal victories by a teenager. With the 4 wins, she was also runner-up in the number of titles to season champion Yamashita who recorded 5, with the final one coming in the final tournament of the 2023 season to break the tie with Sakurai at 4.

Sakurai finished the year competing in 37 tournaments with 4 wins and 8 other top 10 finishes.[43] She was 6th in prize money and 5th in Mercedes point rankings, and she earned her first priority seed for the following year.[44][45]

2024

On 23 March, Sakurai scored her first hole-in-one after turning pro on the second day of the Axa Ladies Golf Tournament (March 22-24) at hole 2 (par-3, 11th hole due to an in-start).[46]

In late May, Sakurai participated in her first U.S. Women's Open (May 30 – June 2), qualifying via her top-75 in the Rolex world ranking. She shot scores of 75 and 74 for a 9-over-par 76th place tie finish, and was 1 stroke shy of the cut line.[47]

After an underwhelming first half of the season, Sakurai shot a 65 on the first day of the Minebea-Mitsumi Ladies Hokkaido Shimbun Cup (July 4-7) to round out the day at a tie for first place, her first-ever first-day top finish. She ended up in sole 2nd place, four strokes behind the winner Haruka Kawasaki. This was her second runner-up finish, the previous one coming in 2022, her rookie year. The group of Sakurai, Kawasaki, and Amiyu Ozeki happened to be the first final group on the final day of a tournament on the tour to consist of members having passed the JLPGA Player Certification Test in the same year and being of the same age group.[48]

Sakurai qualified for the final major of the year, the AIG Women's Open (August 22−25) via the category of the top 50 of the Women's World Golf Rankings by virtue of higher-rankers qualifying through other criteria.[49] She shot 82, her worst since becoming a pro, then 78 for a total of 160 (+16), and missed the cut.[50]

At the Fujitsu Ladies Golf Tournament (October 11-13), competing as the defending champion, Sakurai entered play on the final day in first place (tied) for the first time on the LPGA of Japan Tour with a score of -10. Although she had a slow start, she showed a strong second half to catch up with Miyū Yamashita who eventually won the tournament by winning the playoff and Ayaka Furue who finished in 2nd place to briefly tie for the lead at -13. However, she was unable to improve her score thereafter and ended up in a 3rd place tie.[51]

Sakurai finished the year competing in 34 tournaments with 5 top 10 finishes.[52] She was 27th in prize money and 28th in Mercedes point rankings, and she earned her second consecutive priority seed.[53][54] By making the top 30 in point rankings, she automatically qualified for the 2025 Japan Women's Open Golf Championship.

2025

Starting from a 6th place tie at −6 on the final day of the Earth Mondahmin Cup (26–29 June), Sakurai stretched her score to −11 with five front-nine birdies and tied for the lead during play at holes 11 and 12. However, with three back-nine bogeys, she ended up in a 5th place tie at −8.[55]

At the CAT Ladies tournament (22–24 August), with veteran JLPGA player Yumiko Yoshida as her caddie, Sakurai scored a seven-under-par 65 for a 1st place tie on day 1, and a two-under-par 70 on day two to take the sole lead. This was the first time for her to start the final day alone at the top. She had a tough final day, falling three strokes off the lead after 11 holes, but managed to hold on for a six-way tie after 17 holes. On the final hole, her bunker recovery shot missed a chip-in-eagle by a mere few inches, and she had to settle for an easy ensuing birdie that eventually turned out to be enough to break the tie, securing her fifth win, her first wire-to-wire win, to end a two-year drought.[56]

In the Qualifying Stage (15–18 October, Plantation Golf & Country Club, Venice, Florida) for next season's LPGA Tour card, Sakurai recorded a 64 (8 birdies), tied for the best score of the final day, and finished with a total of −14 (69, 71, 70, 64) with under par scores over all four days. She moved up from a tie for 15th place the previous day to a tie for first place to qualify for the Final Qualifying Stage.[57]

Sakurai finished the year competing in 32 tournaments with 1 win and 2 other top 5 finishes.[58] She was 34th in prize money and 42th in Mercedes point rankings,[59][60] and she earned her third consecutive priority seed.

At the LPGA Q-Series Final Qualifying Stage (4–9 December, RTJ Magnolia Grove GC, Alabama, USA), Sakurai overcame illness that could have led to her withdrawal had not the first day been postponed due to heavy rain to finish in a 10th place tie with a score of 8 under par in a tournament shortened from 90 to 72 holes due to repeated heavy rain and bad course conditions, and successfully earned her LPGA Tour card for eligibility for the coming season.[61]

Personal life

Sakurai's parents named her Kokona (心那) with the hope that she would grow up to be a good-hearted and gentle person,[62] with the original meanings of "koko" or more generally "kokoro" (心)[63] being “mind” and “na” (那)[64] being "beauty" and "richness."

Sakurai admires fellow golfer Hyo-Joo Kim. Her power meal is Japanese-style grilled eel (kabayaki). She likes confectionery made with red bean paste with the bean skin removed. She listens to Japanese pop music and is a big fan of the Japanese idol girl group Sakurazaka46. She has played Pokémon games since she was a child and still does.[65]

Amateur wins

  • 2015 9th Kyushu Elementary Student Golf Tournament
  • 2020 1st OBS Kyushu Junior Golf Tournament
  • 2021 2nd OBS Kyushu Junior Golf Tournament, 51st Kyushu Women's Championship Competition, 40th Kyushu Junior Golf Championship Competition, National High School Golf Championship Tournament

Professional wins (11)

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 2 Jul 2023 Shiseido Ladies Open 71-71-68-68=278 −10 Playoff Shiho Kuwaki
2 30 Jul 2023 Rakuten Super Ladies 67-69-65-66=267 −21 1 stroke Lee Min-young
3 3 Sep 2023 Golf5 Ladies 69-68-69=206 −10 1 stroke Sakura Koiwai
Miyū Yamashita
4 15 Oct 2023 Fujitsu Ladiesa 69-63=132 −12 1 stroke Miyuu Abe
Chisato Iwai
5 24 Aug 2025 CAT Ladies 65-70-72=207 −9 1 stroke Saiki Fujita
Sora Kamiya
Megumi Kido
Shiho Kuwaki
Kana Nagai

a Tournament shortened due to adverse conditions.

LPGA of Japan StepUp Tour wins (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 3 Jun 2022 ECC Ladies Golf Tournament 68-67-68=203 −13 2 strokes Yuka Nii
Haruka Kawasaki
2 18 Sep 2022 Sanyoshimbun Ladies Cup 68-65-68=201 −15 5 strokes Maria Shinohara
Yumeka Kobayashi
Naruha Miyata
3 24 Sep 2022 Chugoku Shimbun Chupea Ladies Cup 70-65-70=205 −11 1 stroke Fumie Tsune
4 8 Oct 2022 Kanehide Miyarabi Open 66-68-72=206 −10 3 strokes Yukari Nishiyama
5 16 Oct 2022 Japan-Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament 67-69-63=199 −17 7 strokes Ririna Staiano
Yukari Nishiyama

LPGA of Taiwan Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 8 Jan 2023 Hitachi Ladies Classic 70-71-67=208 −8 2 strokes Chia-Yen Wu

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 2023 2024
Chevron Championship
U.S. Women's Open CUT
Women's PGA Championship
The Evian Championship
Women's British Open T50 CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year Ranking Source
2023 51 [66]
2024 120 [67]

References

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  63. ^ "心 noun". dictionary.cambridge.org. 12 November 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
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