Joy at Joyo for AAC Favourite Nakajima

Kyoto, Japan: Keita Nakajima has reinforced his status as an overwhelming favourite for victory at November’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC).

Number one in The R&A’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Nakajima joined an elite group of amateurs to have beaten the professionals on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) with a tense play-off triumph in the Panasonic Open.

Thanks to his defeat of veteran professional Ryutaro Nagano at the first hole of sudden-death at Joyo Country Club, Nakajima follows in the footsteps of Massy Kuramoto, Ryo Ishikawa, Hideki Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya as amateurs to have won on the JGTO.

It’s not lost on Nippon Taiku University junior Nakajima that Matsuyama (twice) and Kanaya are both past winners of the AAC, the region’s premier event for male amateurs.

Runner-up to Kanaya at the 2018 AAC in Singapore, the 21-year-old is now setting his sights on emulating his former national team-mate and Matsuyama by having his name inscribed on the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship trophy.

The 12th edition of the AAC will take place at Dubai Creek & Yacht Club from November 3-6 with the winner being invited to line-up in the 2022 Masters Tournament at Augusta National, where Matsuyama will be defending champion.

Despite the temptations of turning professional now, Nakajima has indicated he’ll remain amateur for the time being to capitalise on the opportunities that have been offered to him as winner of the Mark McCormack Medal as the leading player in the WAGR in 2021 – exemptions into The 150th Open at St Andrews and the US Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Although he shot a first-round 80 and missed out on qualifying for the match play phase at this year’s US Amateur, Nakajima’s form over the past 12 months has been brilliant.

He tasted national success in July, winning the Japan Amateur Championship by three strokes at Ohtone Country Club, near Tokyo and also shone brightly in JGTO events.

He was runner-up in the 2021 Token Homemate Cup, third in the 2020 Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters and eighth in the 2020 Dunlop Phoenix. He also recorded top-20 finishes in the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup and Japan Open Championship.