Kobori Leads Millbrook Classic Field

On a picturesque day at Millbrook Resort, Momoka Kobori takes a one-shot lead into the final round of the Millbrook Classic tomorrow after shooting a five-under-par 66 on the new Coronet course.

Carding five birdies and finishing an impressive 18th hole eagle, Kobori made the most of the great conditions on what she describes as a day that “doesn't get much better than this”.

“It’s really nice to be able to put up a good score in these conditions amongst a full field of great players in the country. It feels pretty good and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully, the conditions stay the same, and it will be another great day,”

“I managed to roll quite a few putts pretty well. I had the speed pretty bang on today, which really helped. That was probably the one thing that helped me out there, and I managed to strike the ball pretty solid. So, those two combined kind of worked out for me,” said Kobori.

Sitting one shot behind Kobori, Fraser Wilkin joins Luke Toomey and Keiran Muir in a tie for second place and enjoyed the challenge of the new course at Millbrook Resort

“It's a very interesting course that provides a good challenge. There's a lot of emphasis on placement off the tee to give yourself the best angle coming in. And then there's a few little berms that you can bank the ball off, and things like that. So it's a lot of fun,”

And the conditioning is just fantastic. It's a real testament to the superintendents and the greenkeepers here at Millbrook,” said Wilkin

Ryan Fox who was playing the new nine for the first time today, finished with three birdies in his last 6 holes to sit two shots back of leader Kobori in a tie for fifth place. He is looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow and attacking the course.

“I hit a couple of irons off tees and I'll probably do the same thing tomorrow, depending on where the flags are. I had driver down 10 which was probably the wrong play because I ended up with a second shot where I couldn't attack. So there might be a couple of holes where it's a bit better to lay back and so you can see where you're going,”

“I quite enjoy playing in front of a crowd and we had a lot of support out there which was nice and yeah, it's pretty cool for them when there are no ropes. Millbrook is just a cool place to be and it's nice to have the family down here with me. Awesome.

Round 2 of the Millbrook Classic tees off on Sunday, April 3, at 9.30 am at Millbrook Resort. Live scoring and Tee Times are available via www.golf.co.nz.

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