Queenstown pro golfer Ben Campbell has his eyes firmly on the prize.
Having come tantalisingly close to winning the New Zealand Open, held at Millbrook Resort, several times, the 33-year-old hometown hero’s determined 2026 will be his year.
"The NZ Open is the one we all want to win.
"I’ve had a few really good runs at it, and I’d love nothing more than to get across the line."
If he succeeds, he’ll become the first Queenstown pro in the event’s 105-year history to lift the coveted Brodie Breeze trophy.
But Campbell, who took some time off earlier this year to nurse a niggly wrist injury before returning to sizzling form in June, rattling off a LIV-record seven straight birdies at a tourney in Virginia, isn’t the only one.
Several top Kiwi golfers have confirmed they’re on the way back for the 105th Open, being held from February 26 to March 1.
They include Steven Alker, 54, who says it’d "mean the world to me to lift that trophy in front of my friends and family", and NZ’s No.2-ranked male golfer Daniel Hillier, 27, who’s returning to Queenstown following another outstanding season on the DP World Tour. He had a runner-up finish at the Dubai Desert Classic, a top-five in Abu Dhabi, and a strong showing across the year that sees him finish 18th on the Race to Dubai rankings.
Hillier says the Open’s always a highlight of the season, and a tournament he always makes time to come home to play, while lifting the Brodie Breeze "is a massive goal for me".
"Competing in front of a home crowd, with friends and family around, is something you just can’t replicate."
Kazuma Kobori, 24, is also returning after a remarkable first two seasons as a pro, winning three times in the 2024-’25 season to claim the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, and then delivering a superb rookie campaign on the DP World Tour that earned him a place at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Now firmly established among the world’s top 200, Kobori’s arriving in career-best form.
"It’s a tournament I’ve dreamed of winning for a long time, and I can’t wait to be back at Millbrook," he says.
Tournament director Michael Glading says they’re proud to see so many of NZ’s best returning to Queenstown.
"While we are an internationally-recognised event that is followed all around the world, having our best players on display — flying the flag and making their mark on the tournament’s history — is what it’s all about."
For the second consecutive year, the leading not-already-exempt player at the end of the NZ Open will earn the right to play at next year’s 154th Open at Royal Birkdale, in England, via the Open Qualifying Series.
