Tokyo, Japan: All eyes will be on Keita Nakajima as he makes his much-anticipated first JGTO start this season at the ISPS Handa Championship, hosted at the picturesque Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course on Thursday.
Not only does he return to Japan as the Tour’s reigning Prize Money King, but also as a DP World Tour champion, adding to the excitement of the event jointly sanctioned by the European circuit, now in its second edition.
Fresh off a three-week break, Nakajima will be seeking to pick up where he left off with his landmark triumph at the Indian Open.
Buoyed by his confidence-boosting victory, Nakajima would love nothing more than to replicate that success swiftly, in front of his Japanese fans.
“I’m glad to be back in Japan after claiming my first victory on the DP World Tour,” said Nakajima, a former number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking who won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2021.
“I have been training and practising really well after coming back to Japan and my condition is really good. I’m hoping to be in contention this week in front of the Japanese spectators,” he added.
With a third-place finish in 2020 and no worse than a top 35 in his three other appearances at the Gotemba Course, the annual host of the Taiheiyo Masters, Nakajima hopes to capitalise on his familiarity with the venue.
Nakajima said: “I think foreign players are not used to the grass here and I remember the scores at Visa (Taheiyo Masters) weren’t so low. But I anticipate there will be players who can shoot seven, eight under-pars after the first round. I want to do my best and want to play four days.”
In the inaugural event at PGM Ishioka Golf Club, Lucas Herbert of Australia emerged as champion after defeating Canada’s Aaron Cockerill in a play-off.
Hiroshi Iwata tied for fourth, making him the best-placed Japanese player on the leaderboard, while Nakajima and Takumi Kanaya finished in 12th place.
Nakajima is one of 45 Japanese players competing this week, all eager to outperform their DP World Tour counterparts after a modest showing last year.
Other contenders include Kanaya, who secured victory at last month’s season-opening Token Homemate Cup, as well as Kazuki Higa, Masahiro Kawamura, Ryo Ishikawa and Hideto Tanihara.
They will be inspired by the recent success of their Japanese competitors on the DP World Tour, with three players tasting victory in a span of just six months.
Rikuya Hoshino secured his maiden win at the Qatar Masters in February, while Ryo Hisatsune claimed victory at the French Open in September last year.
Yuto Katsuragawa, who returned to Japan after a full-season on the US second-tier Korn Ferry Tour last year, is eager to make the most of the rare opportunity to compete in a DP World Tour event on home soil.
“As a part of the Japan Tour, this event is a road to the world stage. There are not many chances like this, so I will do my best,” said Katsuragawa, who finished tied 23rd last year.
