Japan’s rising star Kensei Hirata looks to turn Q-School pain into joy at Sony Open in Hawaii

Kensei Hirata was crestfallen after missing out on a PGA TOUR card by two strokes at Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry last month. A win at the Sony Open in Hawaii this weekend may well be the perfect cure for his hangover.

The 24-year-old rising star from Japan fired himself into title contention at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu following a superb 7-under 63 in the second round, a week after illustrious compatriot Hideki Matsuyama won the 2025 season-opening event, The Sentry.

Over the past two seasons, Hirata has established himself as one of the stars to watch in Japan following two wins in 2023 and four more victories last season. He carded eight birdies against a lone bogey on Friday for a 9-under total as he chases a dream victory.

“Yeah, definitely tough missing out (at Q-School), but again, I was able to learn from that experience. Just playing different places around the world, learning different grasses, different conditions, have really helped me today, so I was able to take that and put it into play this week and have a good result,” said Hirata.

Playing on a sponsor exemption this week, he began his second round with four consecutive birdies, highlighted by a 26-foot conversion on the fourth hole and traded three more birdies against a lone bogey on his homeward stretch. Hirata was all smiles on hole No. 12 after a monstrous 34-foot birdie putt found the bottom of the cup.

“Definitely got off to a great start and was able to connect that to the round today. So definitely happy with my play so far,” said Hirata, who ranked in the top five for Strokes Gained: Putting for the round.

In the Q-school Final Stage at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, last month, Hirata fired a closing 64 to finish tied eighth to agonizingly miss out on a top-five finish required to secure a PGA TOUR card for 2025. Takumi Kanaya, who finished as the Japan Golf Tour No. 1 ahead of Hirata last season, came in solo third in the Final Stage.

Hailing from Osaka, Hirata learned the game when he was 7 and dreamt of playing on the PGA TOUR. He showed his promise with a T6 finish at the Baycurrent Classic in 2023 (formerly known as the ZOZO), the PGA TOUR’s lone tournament in Japan and his high finish at Q-School has guaranteed him starts for the first 12 events of the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season.

He intends to keep his head down over the next two days and enjoy the rare opportunity to challenge for what could be a dream win.

“Yeah, definitely my first time making the cut (in Hawaii) so just looking forward to the weekend and having fun,” said Hirata, who shot 70 and 69 at Waialae last year to miss the weekend.

Matsuyama, the winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2022, shot a 69 on Friday and will enter the weekend rounds on 4-under following his record-breaking 35-under winning score at The Sentry last week.