Kaito Onishi earns first Korn Ferry Tour title at UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH

Kaito Onishi claimed his first Korn Ferry Tour title at the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH despite a 72nd-hole bogey at Raleigh Country Club.

The Japanese second-year member fired a final round 4-under 66 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to earn victory in his 30th start on the Korn Ferry Tour. The 25-year-old overcame a four-shot deficit to 54-hole leader Nelson Ledesma, who made a triple bogey at the par-4 11th hole to squander his lead and ended up closing in a 3-over 38 to finish third.

Max McGreevy, who finished T3 last week at the Visit Knoxville Open, finished one shot back of Onishi to claim his best finish of the season and move to fifth in the Korn Ferry Tour Points List.

Kaito Onishi (Winner/8-under)

• Second-year member who claims the first victory of his Korn Ferry Tour career in his 30th start
• With the win, climbs from No. 79 to No. 12 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• Entered the final round four shots behind 54-hole leader Nelson Ledesma before carding a final-round 4-under 66, clinching a one-shot margin of victory over runner-up Max McGreevy
• Posted rounds of 68-69-69-66 at Raleigh Country Club, one of just two players to post a sub-70 score in each round (Max McGreevy/68-69-68-68)
• Prior to this week, logged just two top-25 finishes in seven starts this season
  • Best finish this season prior to winning the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH was a T8 at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard
• Began the season with conditional status after finishing the 2023 season ranked 100th on the points list
• In 22 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, recorded four top-25 finishes, including one top-10 (T7/2023 Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank)
• Originally joined the Tour by placing T12 at Final Stage of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, which guaranteed starts in the first eight events of the 2023 season
• Turned professional in 2021 and played primarily on the Japan Golf Tour for two seasons (2021-22)
• In his 2022 season on the Japan Golf Tour, totaled nine top-10 finishes in 21 starts, highlighted by his first win as a professional at the Fujisankei Classic
• Played four seasons at the University of Southern California (2017-21), where he was a two-time All-Pac-12 Conference First Team selection (2019, 2021), named the 2017-18 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and helped the Trojans win the 2018 Pac-12 Championships
• Prepped at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and earned an AJGA Rolex Junior All-America Second Team selection in 2015
• Plays from Tokyo, Japan

Charting the champion

Quotables

Kaito Onishi on winning the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH… “It feels awesome. It's been tough. All the players out here are all great, they all can win each week, so it was a battle, for sure. To be the last man standing feels awesome.”

Onishi on beginning the season with conditional status… “I didn't have a guaranteed start and my first one was in Bogota, Colombia. Didn't really know what to expect, but I felt like I was putting good enough work during the offseason during workouts, kind of adjusting my swing here and there. I was like, just go out there and have fun. And I finished top 10 there so it was a great way to start the year. It kind of assured me that what I was doing was on the right path. I kind of kept my head down and kind of kept working on the weaknesses of my game and today it all worked out well.”

Onishi on his second season on the Korn Ferry Tour… “Yeah, obviously last year was very tough. Different environment and every week is a different type of grass and a lot of adapting. You know, very difficult. But no, just kept working on it. Missed a couple cuts last year – not just a couple – but I learned a lot from it. I think from all those mistakes, I learned a lot from it so I think that's why I was able to get the win today.”

Final-round notes

• Max McGreevy (second/7-under) earned his fifth top-10 finish of the season and his second time inside the top three
  • McGreevy recorded seven bogeys all week, the fewest number of holes of bogey-or-worse among all players
  • With the solo runner-up, McGreevy climbed from 17th to 5th on the points list
• Nelson Ledesma (third/5-under), who held a three-shot lead entering the final round, carded a 3-over 73 Sunday and placed solo third, his best finish on the Tour since a T3 at the 2022 Live and Work in Maine Open
  • Ledesma’s 3-over 73 was made up of three birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey on the 482-yard par-4 11th
• Mitchell Meissner (T4/4-under) carded a final-round bogey-free 4-under 66 and claimed the first top-10 finish of his Korn Ferry Tour career (34 total starts)
• Daniel Summerhays (T4/4-under) posted a final-round bogey-free 2-under 68 and clinched his third T4 finish this season (T4/The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, T4/AdventHealth Championship) and his third consecutive finish inside the top 25
• Alvaro Ortiz (T4/4-under), who made his 35th start on the Korn Ferry Tour this week, earns the best finish of his career with a T4
• Julian Suri (T4/4-under), who entered the season with conditional status, followed up his T22 at last week’s Visit Knoxville Open with a T4 in Raleigh, the first top-10 finish of his Korn Ferry Tour career (11 total starts)
• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Trey Winstead (T4/4-under) recorded rounds of 64-73-69-70 to finish T4, his third top-10 finish this season (T5/The Panama Championship, 2nd/Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank)
• Raleigh native Carter Jenkins (T4/4-under) sat T2 entering the final round and finished his hometown event with a T4 following an even-par 70 in Sunday’s final round
• Steven Fisk (T4/4-under), who held a share of the 18-hole lead along with Winstead, earns his third top-10 finish of the season and maintains his No. 3 position on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List