Nakajima Overcomes Early Nerves in Honolulu

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States: Japanese world amateur number one Keita Nakajima reinforced his credentials as a rising star while China’s Li Haotong kept his sights on a title assault at the US$7.5 million Sony Open.

Li, once a top-50 golfer in the world but now ranked 460th, maintained his resurgence by firing six birdies and one bogey for a second round 65 at Waialae Country Club. Li is in solo second place on 12-under 128, three behind 36-hole leader Russell Henley.

The 21-year-old Nakajima bounced back from an early bogey as he fired seven birdies in his last 11 holes for a 64 to stand at nine-under in a share of fifth place alongside countryman and Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama who carded a 65 in the PGA Tour tournament.

Such was the quality of his ball-striking that Nakajima made only one birdie putt outside of 15 feet. He won a Japan Golf Tour event last year and then capped off 2021 by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship – following in the footsteps of Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya – to earn a Masters invitation. He will also be in the field at the US Open and The Open Championship this year.

“I was a little nervous, but continued to swing well and read the greens well,” said Nakajima, who started his day from the 10th. “I’m enjoying this great course and this moment.”

Nakajima, who hails from Saitama, is among a new breed of golfers emerging from Japan, inspired by Matsuyama’s heroics on the PGA Tour where he has won seven times including the Masters and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, Japan’s lone PGA Tour event, last year.

“He’s a superstar in Japan. I want to catch up to Hideki and Takumi, as well,” said Nakajima.

For 26-year-old Li, the last two years have been a struggle with his form dipping alarmingly after bursting onto the scene with two wins on the DP World Tour. He also finished third at the 2017 Open Championship, featured in the 2019 Presidents Cup and held the 36-hole lead at the 2020 PGA Championship before finishing tied 17th.

The Chinese was delighted to move into contention. “The first few holes I wasn’t quite on, especially on my tee shots. Luckily, I had a good recovery. I played great on my back nine, made a lot of putts,” said Li, who opened with a 63 on Thursday.

Last year, Li began working with Jamie Mulligan, who also coaches reigning FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, and the signs have been encouraging with two runner-up finishes in domestic events at the end of 2021. “I just need to hit a lot of good tee shots and try to keep the ball in play and put it in the right positions,” he said.

While Li harbours dreams of becoming the first mainland Chinese to win on the PGA Tour, he knows he needs to stay patient, as he learned after leading into the weekend at the PGA. “That was a very good experience because I’d never been there before. I learned how to stay patient in certain situations. So it’s great to be here and to be in contention again,” said Li, who showed up in Hawaii with a new look, wearing prescription spectacles.

So far, it’s kept him focused. “I wore contact lenses since last year, but they often made my eyes dry. One day I forget to put my lenses on and I just put normal glasses on. It felt like it was all right,” he said.