Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan: Nine years after he triumphed in the Japan Amateur Championship at Hirono Golf Club, Takumi Kanaya has been usurped as the youngest winner of the title.
With the event returning to the historic Hyogo Prefecture venue for the first time since Kanaya’s victory in 2015 when he was aged 17 years and 51 days, there was a dramatic finale to the weather-hit 2024 championship.
Following incessant rain which left parts of the course under water, the fourth and final round was cancelled at 10 am today with the Japan Golf Association (JGA) declaring the tournament to be shortened to 54 holes.
That meant joint third-round leaders Mao Matsuyama and Katsumasa Yamashita would have to endure a sudden-death play-off, beginning at 2 pm by which time the course was playable.
After the 10th hole failed to produce a winner, it was Matsuyama who prevailed at the 11th with a par to his opponent’s bogey.
Aged 15 years and 344 days, Matsuyama comfortably broke Kanaya’s record to write his name into the JGA record books as the championship’s youngest winner.
Victory capped a remarkable two-week period for Matsuyama, who was the individual winner at the previous week’s Toyota Junior Golf World Cup against a strong international field.
That win saw Matsuyama enter the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) for the first time in 4,339th place – a position that will be dramatically improved when next week’s rankings are published.
Big-hitting Matsuyama, who was encouraged to take up the game by his father who himself was an outstanding amateur player, was two shots off the pace in joint third spot after 36 holes, following rounds of 68 and 67.
Going to the 456-yard 18th hole in round three he was still trailing Yamashita by two strokes. But after a mighty drive of more than 300 yards, Matsuyama made a birdie-three to sign for a 68. Yamashita, meanwhile, dropped a shot on the home hole to post a 70.
It was to prove decisive as the duo ended day three in a share of top spot on seven-under 203.
Having drawn level at the top of the leaderboard, Matsuyama revealed his motivation for striking the ball prodigious distances.
He said: “I started playing golf because I watched my older brother play. I just kept thinking about how to hit the ball farther so that I wouldn’t lose. And before I knew it, I was hitting the ball further.
“I’ve been in contact with him every day at this year’s Japan Amateur, and he’s cheering me on.”