Nakajima and Lin in US Amateur Spotlight

Oakmont, Pennsylvania, United States: Two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winner Lin Yuxin and Keita Nakajima, number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), spearhead a powerful Asia-Pacific contingent at this week’s 121st US Amateur Championship.

Among the 312 golfers in the starting field are 20 from the Asia-Pacific region, led by Japan with seven, followed by Australia and China (both three), Korea (two) and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand one apiece.

All competitors will play 18 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday, one round at Oakmont Country Club and one round at Longue Vue Club.

The field will then be cut to the low 64 scorers with six rounds of match play beginning on Wednesday. The championship concludes with a 36-hole final championship on Sunday.

Nakajima, winner of last month’s Japan Amateur and runner-up to Takumi Kanaya in the 2018 AAC, is one of three Japanese entrants in the top-10 in the WAGR, alongside Taiga Sugihara (eighth) and Ren Yonezawa (ninth).

In the stroke play segment, Nakajima has been drawn to play with American Pierceson Coody, second in the WAGR, and third-placed Ludvig Aberg of Sweden.

Meanwhile, in an intriguing all-Asian grouping, Sugihara will tee-off with Korean Sam Choi (11th in the WAGR) and number 14 Lin, China’s highest-ranked player.

Choi earned All-West Region and All-Mountain West Conference recognition for the second time as a junior at the University of New Mexico in 2020-21.

Last month, he won the Maridoe Amateur and tied for second in the Pacific Coast Amateur.

Left-handed Lin was one of two amateurs to make the cut in last month’s Open Championship and has twice competed in the Masters Tournament, courtesy of his AAC triumphs.

He played in seven spring tournaments for the University of Florida in 2021 after transferring from the University of Southern California. He was chosen third-team All-American and All-West Region as a freshman at USC. He has played in two US Junior Amateurs and advanced to the Round of 32 in 2019 at Inverness Club.