Miyazaki, Japan: It’s not taken long for former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship winner Takumi Kanaya to stamp an indelible mark on the professional game.
The ex-World Amateur Golf Ranking number one emerged triumphant in the Dunlop Phoenix Open on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) – setting a notable record in the process on what was only his fourth start as a pro and his third on Japan’s domestic circuit.
At the age of 22 and 183 days, Kanaya become the youngest winner of one of the JGTO’s most revered tournaments, eclipsing the previous mark set in 2014 by Hideki Matsuyama by 88 days.
The only player who has taken fewer events in which to secure a maiden pro victory is Matsuyama, who achieved the feat on his second outing as a pro at the Tsuruya Open in 2013.
Thanks to his play-off victory at Miyazaki's Phoenix Country Club over fellow university student Tomohiro Ishizaka, Kanaya has soared 61 places to 126th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and boosted his prospects of securing a coveted starting spot in the golf event at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Among Japanese players, he’s now risen to fifth in the OWGR, behind only Matsuyama (17th), Shugo Imahira (77th), Ryo Ishikawa (106th) and Rikuya Hoshino (118th).
The top-15 world-ranked players will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Beyond the top 15, players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15.
Kanaya, who cited his desire to represent his country in the Olympics as one of the main reasons behind his decision to relinquish his amateur status at the start of last month, collected the first prize of 20 million Yen (about US$191,000). In so doing he moved into third place on the JGTO’s Money List, also raising the prospect that he'll win Rookie of the Year.
Another remarkable first for the JGTO was that the 2020 Dunlop Phoenix Open was the first occasion since the Tour was founded in 1999 that an event has been decided by a play-off featuring two rookies or two current university students – Kanaya being a fourth-year student at Tohoku Fukushi University while Ishizaka is a third-year student at Nihon Wellness Sports University.
After completing the regulation 72 holes in 13-under-par 271, the duo needed four further holes of a sudden-death play-off before Kanaya was crowned champion.
"It was a great match,” said Kanaya, who completed victory with a birdie-four to his rival’s par-five on the 18th hole at the fourth time of trying. The first time they both parred and the second and third occasions saw them both make birdies.
"Every year, the world's top players participate (in the Dunlop Phoenix) and the winners are all amazing players, so I'm glad to have my name engraved on the trophy,” said Kanaya, referring to the list of past winners, which includes 14 Major champions - Andy Bean, Hubert Green, Seve Ballesteros, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Craig Stadler, Larry Mize, Larry Nelson, Scott Simpson, Ernie Els, David Duval, Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Brooks Koepka.
It was not, however, Kanaya’s first taste of success on the JGTO. Last year he won the Sumitomo Mitsui Visa Taiheiyo Masters, writing his name into the history books as only the fourth amateur to triumph on the Tour and the first since Matsuyama in 2011.
By his own admission, he has felt pressure since then to prove that he would not be a one-hit wonder. "I couldn’t accept that I wouldn't win the second and third wins right away. I've been preparing for that. I thought I wouldn't really be recognised unless I won two or three times quickly. I badly wanted to win my second tournament soon."
