Royal Liverpool Beckons for Nakajima and Kanaya

Tokyo, Japan: Former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winners Keita Nakajima and Takumi Kanaya have booked their places in the 151st Open Championship.

Although the duo narrowly missed out on victory in the Japan Golf Tour Organisation’s (JGTO) Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open, top-four finishes meant they were consoled by securing their tickets to Royal Liverpool Golf Club from July 20-23.

Joining Nakajima and Kanaya at Hoylake will be fellow-Japanese Kensei Hirata and Kazuki Yasumori.

Hirata beat Nakajima at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off at JFE Setonaikai Golf Club to claim his maiden JGTO win, while Yasumori, the third-round leader, ended in a share of third place with Kanaya, one shot shy of joining the play-off.

Nakajima, a former number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), earned a starting spot in last year’s Open Championship at St Andrews courtesy of his victory in the 2021 AAC in Dubai.

Shortly after missing the cut at the Home of Golf, Nakajima turned professional and has been concentrating his efforts on the JGTO.

In the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open, Nakajima’s 72-hole total of 17-under 271 left him level at the top of the leaderboard with Hirata.

It took until the third extra hole for Hirata to prevail with a birdie that enabled him to etch his name into the JGTO history books as the 400th different winner since the Tour’s inception in 1973.

“It’s a dream come true for me. Getting my JGTO breakthrough and punching my ticket to the Open this week! I’m at a loss for words. When I got my Tour card last year, my goal was to get my first win this year and I did it.

“It’s not going to be easy competing in The Open, but I’m really excited to be going there in July and getting the chance to play against the world’s best players,” said 22-year-old Hirata.

For Kanaya, winner of the AAC in Singapore in 2018 and also an ex-number one in the WAGR, it will be a fourth appearance in The Open.

Having missed the cut in 2019, 2021 and 2022, he’ll be especially determined to set the record straight this time around.