Kota Kaneko has been named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2026, becoming the second Japanese player to win the DP World Tour’s prestigious award.
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Kaneko lit up his debut season with a two-week stretch in May as he finished runner-up at the Soudal Open and won the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol seven days later.
He recorded a further four top 20 finishes to qualify as one of the leading 50 available players in the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World competing in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
The 24-year-old continues the success of Japanese players on the DP World Tour in recent years, with Ryo Hisatsune becoming the first player from Japan to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award in 2023. With his victory this season, Kaneko became one of five Japanese players who have claimed six titles since 2023.
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“First of all, I’m very honoured to receive the award,” said Kaneko. “The first person was Ryo Hisatsune, which is a good friend of mine, he’s the same age, and I know him really well. So, I’m really happy to be in the same category with him.
“I think the level of play in Japan has gotten better, and a lot of the players want to go overseas to play. I think that helps a lot of players coming out here and playing really well.
“I was really happy winning in Austria, and that gave me big confidence that I knew I could play out here. And from here on, just coming out at the end of the season, playing the two DP World Tour tournaments was kind of one of the goals. So I’m happy to be here.
“I work really hard by taking every tournament step by step in every shot. And worked really hard, and I think this got me to where I am right now.”
Kaneko won twice on the Japan Golf Tour in 2025 to top the Order of Merit and earn an exemption on the DP World Tour for the 2026 season.
He recorded a T15 finish in the second event of his DP World Tour career at the Qatar Masters in February. He enjoyed a further top 20 followed by his first top ten of the season in back-to-back appearances at the Volvo China Open and Turkish Airlines Open, before his successful two-week run in Belgium and Austria yielded his maiden victory.
Kaneko earned the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award by finishing as the leading eligible player on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World. He entered the DP World Tour Championship in 49th position, and as the only contender for the award competing in the season-ending event in Dubai.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year
1960 Tommy Goodwin (ENG)
1961 Alex Caygill (ENG)
1963 Tony Jacklin (ENG)
1966 Robin Liddle (SCO)
1968 Bernard Gallacher (SCO)
1969 Peter Oosterhuis (ENG)
1970 Stuart Brown (ENG)
1971 David Llewellyn (WAL)
1972 Sam Torrance (SCO)
1973 Philip Elson (ENG)
1974 Carl Mason (ENG)
1976 Mark James (ENG)
1977 Sir Nick Faldo (ENG)
1978 Sandy Lyle (SCO)
1979 Mike Miller (SCO)
1980 Paul Hoad (ENG)
1981 Jeremy Bennett (ENG)
1982 Gordon Brand Jnr. (SCO)
1983 Grant Turner (ENG)
1984 Philip Parkin (WAL)
1985 Paul Thomas (WAL)
1986 José María Olazábal (ESP)
1987 Peter Baker (ENG)
1988 Colin Montgomerie (SCO)
1989 Paul Broadhurst (ENG)
1990 Russell Claydon (ENG)
1991 Per-Ulrik Johansson (SWE)
1992 Jim Payne (ENG)
1993 Gary Orr (SCO)
1994 Jonathan Lomas (ENG)
1995 Jarmo Sandelin (SWE)
1996 Thomas Björn (DEN)
1997 Scott Henderson (SCO)
1998 Olivier Edmond (FRA)
1999 Sergio Garcia (ESP)
2000 Ian Poulter (ENG)
2001 Paul Casey (ENG)
2002 Nick Dougherty (ENG)
2003 Peter Lawrie (IRL)
2004 Scott Drummond (SCO)
2005 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (ESP)
2006 Marc Warren (SCO)
2007 Martin Kaymer (GER)
2008 Pablo Larrazábal (ESP)
2009 Chris Wood (ENG)
2010 Matteo Manassero (ITA)
2011 Tom Lewis (ENG)
2012 Ricardo Santos (POR)
2013 Peter Uihlein (USA)
2014 Brooks Koepka (USA)
2015 Byeong Hun An (KOR)
2016 Jeunghun Wang (KOR)
2017 Jon Rahm (ESP)
2018 Shubhankar Sharma (IND)
2019 Robert MacIntyre (SCO)
2020 Sami Välimäki (FIN)
2021 Matti Schmid (GER)
2022 Thriston Lawrence (RSA)
2023 Ryo Hisatsune (JPN)
2024 Jesper Svensson (SWE)
2025 Martin Couvra (FRA)
2026 Kota Kaneko (JPN)
