Published July 17, 2008 on April 16, 2018

Kodaira Prevails in Playoff to Win RBC Heritage

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Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira, 28, sank a 25-foot birdie on the third playoff hole to defeat Si Woo Kim in the final round of the RBC Heritage for his first PGA TOUR victory. He had closed with weekend scores of 70-66 to finish at 12-under 272, resulting in a playoff with South Korea’s Si Woo Kim.

After pars from both players on the first two extra holes (18-18), Kodaira sank the winning birdie at the 17^th to claim the victory.  This makes Kodaira the second player from Japan to win on the PGA TOUR since Hideki Matsuyama at the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

If Kodaira accepts membership to the PGA TOUR with his win, he would earn a two-year membership to the PGA TOUR, carrying him through the 2019-20 season. In addition, his non-member FedExCup points would transfer over to the member list.

Kodaira, No. 46 in the Official World Golf Ranking entering the week and member of the Japan Golf Tour, has now made 11 cuts. His T28 finish in last week’s Masters Tournament was his previous-best showing.

Kodaira has had six wins on the Japan Golf Tour, three second-place finishes, five third-place showings. He has a total of 36 top-10 finishes on the Japan Tour. Kodaira is also the winner of two major championships on the Japan Golf Tour, the 2013 Japan Golf Tour Championship, and 2015 Japan Open.