It stops being about trying to become what you think you need to be and starts becoming about becoming the very best version of yourself. For Kazuma Kobori, that lesson has perhaps been the biggest takeaway from his first few years as a touring professional.

Three seasons into life travelling between Europe, Asia and Australasia, the New Zealander has discovered that chasing someone else's blueprint is a fool's errand. Instead, he's learning to trust the game that has earned him multiple wins on the PGA Tour of Australasia and a tee time at The Open Championship

"I'm never going to play golf like Bryson does, and that's completely okay because I've got different strengths than Bryson has," Kobori told Golf Australia after opening with an impressive even-par 70 at Royal Birkdale.

"It's kind of a radical example, but you kind of get me,” he laughs.

"Just trying to do what I can do really well and then see what I end up with at the end. That's kind of been my philosophy."

It is a remarkably mature outlook from a player still finding his way on the biggest stages.

Professional golf has never offered more opportunities to compare yourself with others. Players arrive each week, hitting it different distances, playing different schedules and following vastly different paths to success. The temptation to chase trends is borderline impossible to ignore.

Kobori's answer has been simple.

Manage expectations. Believe in your own game.

Those two ideas have become the foundation of his progression, and they were evident throughout a composed opening day around one of links golf's sternest examinations, where vastly more experienced players fell by the wayside.

His even-par score hardly tells the full story.

Kobori struck the ball beautifully for much of Thursday but admitted the demanding greens prevented him from turning a good day into a great one.

"I struck the ball really, really well, but mishaps on the greens, they're tricky," he said.

"But all in all, even par, pretty happy about it."

Royal Birkdale asked different questions as the afternoon unfolded.

An opening round even-par has put Kiwi Kazuma Kobori in a great position at The Open. PHOTO: Getty Images.

Forecasts of punishing winds never quite materialised, but the breeze shifted often enough to render carefully prepared yardage books slightly less reliable.

"The game plan you had for the first three days [of practice] doesn't quite apply anymore," Kobori explained.

Kobori's approach off the tee reflected that mindset.

While many of the game's biggest hitters backed themselves to overpower Birkdale, he has been happy to lean on fairway woods and hybrids rather than automatically reaching for the driver.

"You don't want to hit a good shot into a bunker, but at some stage it's going to happen, and you're going to have to accept it a little bit," he said.

"If you play out of all the bunkers, then you're not going to make any birdies because you've got too much club in.

"So, there's an element of a little bit of risk management."

That patience was rewarded on the inward nine.

After failing to birdie the reachable par-5 14th — one of the easiest holes on the course — Kobori could easily have allowed frustration to creep in.

A birdie at the notoriously difficult par-3 15th, courtesy of a putt from beyond 20 feet, immediately restored the momentum he had briefly lost.

"I'm never going to play golf like Bryson does, and that's completely okay because I've got different strengths than Bryson has." - Kazuma Kobori.

"I definitely wanted to pick up birdie," he told Australian and Kiwi media.

"I kind of lost one but got two back on that hole, so I was pretty happy. That was definitely the highlight."

The Cantabrian reintroduced an older putter to the bag this week because Royal Birkdale demands exceptional distance control on lag putts more than it rewards holing everything inside 10 feet.

"It's hard to hit it close because it's so baked," he explained.

"Therefore, you're going to hit a lot of lag putts."

The slightly more forgiving blade gave him greater confidence in controlling pace across Birkdale's greens.

Perhaps the most telling answer, though, came when Kobori was asked about how he manages the demands of travel and calendar planning.

His manager helps plan the globe-trotting schedule, but the guiding principle is fascinatingly uncomplicated.

"I think if I don't like being out there, I'm not going to play that well," he said.

"If I'm feeling like I don't want to play, then it's alright to take a week off here and there."

It is easy to forget that for many players, simply reaching The Open remains a career highlight.

Kobori hasn't.

"We're at The Open, for God's sake," he laughs.

"It's not a guarantee to come back here every year.

"So, I am here, so I'm going to try and enjoy it."

For a player still writing the early chapters of his professional career, that may be the greatest lesson of all. Golf has a habit of convincing players they always need more: more distance, more speed, more tournaments, more perfection.

Kobori is personifying the importance of knowing your strengths, trusting your game and enjoying the ride.

On Thursday at The Open, that philosophy was worth an even-par 70 and, perhaps more importantly, another step forward in a career that continues to soar.