The experienced Australian won the Open for a second time in 2020 when he fired a sizzling final-round 63 at Millbrook to claim victory by two shots.
He was all set to defend the title in 2021 and 2022, but Covid scrapped those plans.
Kennedy is back at the scene of his memorable success and, while he has relished revisiting some of those highlights from three years ago, he said a lot had happened in the interim.
"Through everything that we’ve gone through, I’ve just been trying to manage myself, really.
"Quarantine, playing in Japan, trying to play all over the world — it’s been a bit of a whirlwind in last few years.
"But coming back to New Zealand and driving up to here definitely brought back some memories. Millbrook’s a special place.
"I’m trying to just sort of work out how and why it happened, and get those ideas back."
Kennedy said his golf game was in a bit of a transition phase.
The New Zealand Open is his first tournament of the year — in fact, he has not played since the first week of December — and he has been reflecting on what he needs to do to flourish back on the Japan Tour.
"I just had to spend some time away and work a lot on my game, just to really stay relevant in Japan, and to also give myself the hunger and the fight back to be up there for at least another two or three years.
"I just needed to sit back and look at how I could get better and what sort of areas I needed to improve on."
Kennedy, who first won the New Zealand Open in 2011, is not really sure how he is going to play this week.
"Millbrook is about the weather and how you maintain your ability to score around here.
"I think there’s a lot of birdie holes on the two courses, but you’ve still got to be cautious."
