A three-time winner holds the early lead after making four consecutive birdies to finish his first round.
Like most of America, chances are you were sleeping during the first round of the PGA Tour’s 2022 Zozo Championship.
With the event being held at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan, the broadcast aired from 11 p.m. ET Wednesday night to 3 a.m. ET Thursday morning, so we can’t really blame you for resting your eyes and missing out on the early action.
We can, however, get you up to speed on what you missed while you were sleeping. The fans showed out for defending champion Hideki Matsuyama while Keita Nakajima, the world’s former No. 1 amateur, made his pro Tour debut in his native Japan. One three-time winner on Tour made four consecutive birdies to take the lead, while another player did the same but just to get back to even par on the day.
Here are some of the highlights from the first round of the Tour’s annual stop in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Nakajima has held the No. 1 amateur ranking for a record 83 weeks.
Keita Nakajima has made amateur golf history.
The 22-year-old from Japan is the first male player to be awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal twice as the world’s top men’s amateur golfer and has held the No. 1 ranking for a record 83 weeks. Nakajima and 2020 winner Takumi Kanaya are the only Japanese players to be awarded the medal.
“It is a great honor to receive the McCormack Medal again,” said Nakajima via a release. “The excitement I felt when I saw the medal in Dubai last year is still fresh in my memory. Seeing it again in Paris (at the World Amateur Team Championship) will be really wonderful.
“I appreciate the opportunities I have been given thanks to the medal. I hope I have created a pathway for not only Japanese players but all Asia-Pacific players to pursue the dream they have.”
Established in 2007, the McCormack Medal winner receives exemptions into the 2023 U.S. Open and 2023 British Open.
“On behalf of the USGA, I would like to extend our congratulations to Keita for earning the prestigious McCormack Medal,” said John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer for the USGA. “He is creating history with his second award and has played unbelievable golf over the past two years. Nakajima has an impeccable record on a worldwide level and all of us at the USGA look forward to watching him excel as his career continues.”
The reverberations from Hideki Matsuyama’s rise to international golfing star can already be felt in two of the Japan’s most promising talents.
As the first Japanese winner of a men’s major, Hideki Matsuyama’s victory at the Masters in April is expected to making a lasting impact in golf crazed Japan. But the reverberations from his rise to international golfing star can already be felt in two of the country’s most promising talents.
Keita Nakajima, the current No. 1-ranked amateur in the world and winner of the 2021 Mark McCormack Medal, and Takumi Kanaya, a former World No. 1 amateur who competes mainly on the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO) and finished the year at No. 49 in the Official World Golf Ranking, are both in the field this week at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii just as they will be in April at the Masters. Neither pro needed much prodding to heap praise on Matsuyama, who enters the week ranked No. 19 in the world and won the Zozo Championship in November.
“First and foremost, his playing self is second-to-none, and not only me but a lot of the Japanese players have been inspired to play well on U.S. soil,” said Kanaya.
Nakajima added of Matsuyama, “He’s a superstar in Japan. I want to catch up to Mr. Hideki and Mr. Takumi, as well.”
The 21-year-old golfer is off to a good start. He canned a 25-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Taicho Kho and win the Asia-Pacific Amateur and book his ticket to the Masters.
Keita Nakajima hits his tee shot on the 11th hole during the second round of the Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on October 22, 2021 in Inzai, Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
Nakajima became the third Japanese winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur following in the footsteps of Matsuyama (2010-11) and Kanaya (2018). In September, Nakajima won a professional event, the Panasonic Open on the JGTO, and he competed in the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship this fall, including playing a practice round with reigning British Open champion Collin Morikawa.
“Keita was awesome. Striped the ball, that’s one of the biggest things I saw. Everything sounded amazing. He was hitting it really straight. You don’t get to be the No. 1 player in the world for the amateur rankings unless you’re playing pretty well and you’re a good player, but I could see why. Sometimes you see players and you kind of guess how they got there, but I could see definitely why and how he got there,” Morikawa said in Japan. “He’s someone that is going to have a great future ahead of him. He’s got a lot to look forward to, but hopefully he can just enjoy the moment, enjoy where he’s at. That’s what I did.”
Nakajima expects to do just that. When asked to name his goals for the Masters, he simply said, “Enjoy the moment.”
Takumi Kanaya of Japan hits his tee shot on the 4th hole during the final round of the Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on October 24, 2021 in Inzai, Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
A year ago, Kanaya, 23, won the McCormack Medal after a 55-week reign as the top-ranked amateur, and he has wasted little time making his mark professionally in Japan. He ended the year ranked No. 49 in the world, which was just good enough to earn an invite to the Masters (top 50 at the end of 2021 automatically qualified). One week after Matsuyama won the Masters, Kanaya defeated Nakajima by one stroke to win the JGTO’s Token Homemate Cup. Kanaya, who stayed up late to see the conclusion of the Masters, doesn’t think his triumph so shortly after Matsuyama made history was mere coincidence.
“I was simply watching the telecast and cheering him on in hotel prior to the tournament that I was playing in, and I was very inspired by his win,” Kanaya said.
In his previous Masters appearance in 2019, Kanaya finished T-58, but he said this time will be different.
“When I was there playing as an amateur, I was simply there for the experience,” he said. “But this year, playing as a professional, the Masters will be a key event for me to earn the card for PGA Tour or European Tour.”
Kanaya is set to play DP Tour events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and hopes to receive a sponsor invite to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His world ranking, which dropped to No. 51, will dictate if he gets to compete in the Players Championship and WGC Dell Match Play as well as potentially other sponsor invites.
Nakajima plans to remain an amateur after the Masters and compete in the World Amateur Team Championship later this summer in France, but he could be the next Japanese budding star to make a name for himself in the U.S. The fan of the Los Angeles Angels was asked what’s the biggest difference in being a superstar between Matsuyama and Shohei Otani, baseball’s latest sensation.
There may be no better way for the top amateur player in the world to validate his status than with an invitation to the Masters.
There may be no better way for the top amateur player in the world to validate his status than with an invitation to the Masters. After prevailing in a two-hole playoff, Keita Nakajima, the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for the past 28 weeks, is headed to Augusta National as the winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur. He becomes the third player from Japan to win the title, joining two-time AAC winner Hideki Matsuyama – now also a Masters champion – and Takumi Kanaya.
Nakajima, 21, made a bit more history, too, by becoming just the second playoff winner in the event’s history.
“I am very proud of what I have achieved,” Nakajima said. “To follow in the footsteps of Hideki-san and Takumi feels great. I am so excited that I will be playing three majors in 2022. I am very thankful for the tournament for giving us such great opportunities.”
Earlier this year, Nakajima was awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked amateur, which earned him a spot in the U.S. Open. The AAC gets him into the Masters and British Open.
Keita Nakajima of Japan lifts The Open flag and The Masters flag alongside the AAC trophy after winning the 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. (Photo by AAC)
Nakajima took a one-shot lead into the final round at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He birdied three of his first five holes on Saturday, but Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, who plays college golf for Notre Dame, remained on his heels after having made up considerable ground in Round 3 with a bogey-free 64.
Nakajima’s biggest stumble came at the ninth, where he made double bogey. He made up for it with three birdies on the back nine, but Kho’s final-round 65 to Nakajima’s 68 allowed Kho to catch the favorite at 14 under for the championship.
The two played the 18th hole twice in sudden death and ultimately Nakajima won with a birdie the second time. Kho’s finish goes down as Hong Kong’s best in the 12-year history of the championship.
As junior golfers, Nakajima and Kho competed against each other, but Kho noted he hadn’t seen Nakajima for three or four years. Still, knowing what Nakajima has accomplished motivates him.
Keita Nakajima of Japan celebrates winning the 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. (Photo by AAC)
“To be able to go head-to-head against him is truly an honor,” he said. “It was really nice seeing him play these last two holes and he’s the best in the world. It just motivates me because I feel like I’m not that far off. I feel like I’ve learned a lot in two holes playing with him and I feel like I can bridge the gap.”
Korea’s Wooyoung Cho and China’s Bo Jin tied for third at 12 under. Defending champion Yuxin Lin, who was looking to become the first three-time AAC winner, was also a factor all week before falling to a tie for seventh with a final-round even-par 71.
Even though he remained on Nakajima’s heels for three rounds, Lin felt he didn’t have his A game all week.
“Just got to keep grinding out there and just try to play the best that you can with whatever you have, and I felt like I did that pretty well for the most part just made some mistakes today which killed the momentum but still a great learning experience.”
With a Masters invitation on the line at the Asia-Pacific Am, Keita Nakajima and Yuxin Lin won’t go down without a fight.
There’s a reason that Keita Nakajima and Yuxin Lin were favorites entering the week at the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and with a Masters invitation on the line at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, they’ve shown they won’t go down without a fight.
Both world No. 1 amateur Nakajima, of Japan, and defending champion Yuxin Lin, of China, resurfaced at the top of the leaderboard after the third round and will have big targets on their backs entering Saturday’s fourth and final round.
Most notably, Lin had a third-round 65, which tied for the second-lowest round of the day. That effort was helped tremendously by birdies on his first three holes.
“I really couldn’t ask for a better start,” Lin said. “Made some mistakes on the front. Should have made a couple more putts but I feel like I played pretty solid all round and stayed pretty patient and really just stuck to my game plan.”
After opening with a 67 that left him part of a big group of leaders, Lin brought in a ho-hum round of even-par 71 on Thursday. His 65 moved him to 10 under for the week, and leaves him in solo second, one shot behind Nakajima.
“I’m just really glad I have this opportunity to be in contention again,” said Lin, who won this championship in 2017 and 2019. “Obviously, it would be nice to achieve the three-peat. I’ve got myself in this position and I’m going to enjoy tomorrow and see what happens.”
Yuxin Lin of China during round 3 of the 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship being played on the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Friday, November 5, 2021. (Photo by AAC)
Much has been made of the difficulty of Dubai Creek’s three closing holes. Lin took a double-bogey at the par-4 18th in the second round. Those holes could present a major storyline down the stretch in the final round, particularly if scores remain close.
For his part, Nakajima played those holes in 1 under on Friday, birdieing No. 16 after hitting an 8-iron to 15 feet, on his way to 4-under 67. A par save at No. 18, where Nakajima took a drop after hitting his ball in a penalty area, was key in keeping his one-shot lead.
“A couple miss short putts but 16 was a big birdie and big save last hole,” Nakajima said in addressing his game, particularly his putting. “So good for final round putting.”
Second-round leader Bo Jin, who also hails from China and plays collegiately for Oklahoma State, remains in the mix, too, after following a bogey-free round of 64 on Thursday with a 70 on Friday. He bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18 coming in.
Jin had played 43 bogey-free holes up until that point.
“I didn’t technically notice how much but I just knew you had a pretty good stretch going in,” he said. “The bogey on the last two holes was not bad, too. 18 was a tough hole and 17 I left myself in a tough spot.”
Korea’s Sam Choi is tied for third with Jin at 9 under and Taichi Kho of Hong Kong is solo fifth at 8 under after his third-round 64, the low round of the day.
Bo Jin’s goal for the second round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur was a clean round. Mission accomplished.
Bo Jin’s goal for the second round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur was a clean round. Mission accomplished for the sophomore at Oklahoma State.
Without a single bogey in his second round at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club in United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Jin was able to piece together a 7-under 64 that moved him 23 spots up the AAC leaderboard and into the pole position. Entering the third round, Jin has a one-shot lead on five players tied for second, which includes world No. 1 amateur Keita Nakajima of Japan.
Jin, representing China this week, said putting made all the difference in the third round, but he hit the ball better, too.
“Yesterday I made double on 9 which is a pretty bad mistake,” he said. “Today I just tried to keep myself clean and keep it to a safe spot when the pins are tucked like that.”
There is some family history for Jin this week. His older brother Cheng won the 2015 iteration of the AAC when it was played at Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club in Hong Kong. His family also made golf headlines in 2019 when his sister Jiarui was co-medalist at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“We are just brothers but on the golf course, I definitely want to beat him,” Bo said of his relationship with his brother. “He helps me a lot with my golf game and all the things that I have achieved I would not be here without him. I’m thankful to him but when we get on the golf course, I definitely want to beat him.”
As Jin charted his rise up the leaderboard on Thursday, the favorites scattered. Nakajima, who was part of a seven-way tie for the lead at the start of the day, remained close to the top with a round of 68. Korea’s Sam Choi, another co-leader from Wednesday, also had 68 to remain part of the large tie for second.
Keita Nakajima of Japan tees off on the 9th during round 2 of the 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship being played on the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Thursday, November 4, 2021. (Photo by AAC)
Jin’s Oklahoma State teammate Leo Oyo has put together rounds of 71-65 and at 6 under, is tied for seventh, two off the pace.
Lukas Michel, the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion from Australia, had a second-round 71 to drop to a tie for 15th at 4 under.
“I actually hit the driver better today than yesterday,” Michel said. “But sometimes the worse you hit the driver, the luckier you get. Sometimes the further off-line you are, it’s a little better. I feel like my driving is actually improving. Hopefully tomorrow I can drive it a little bit better because it hasn’t been great, and then who knows what could happen.”
Defending champion Yuxin Lin is also at that number after a 71 of his own.
It doesn’t take long to find the favorites in this Asia-Pacific Amateur field. After the first round at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, they’re all crowded at the top. In all, seven players share the first-round lead, and at least three of those men stick out.
World No. 1 amateur Keita Nakajima of Japan and two-time AAC winner Yuxin Lin of China – also the defending champion from his 2019 victory – were paired together for Wednesday’s opening round in Dubai and both walked away with a 4-under 67. Australian Lukas Michel, winner of the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur, also fired 67.
Sam Choi, Alexander Yang, Jimmy Zheng and Wooyoung Cho also had 67.
Lin, who plays for Florida, and Nakajima had never played together, but Lin didn’t buy into any talk of a rivalry between them during a big week when a Masters invitation is at stake for the winner.
“Obviously everyone is trying to win the tournament,” he said. “For me, I’m not really trying to compete with anyone else. Just trying to play the best golf that I can and the results should be good.”
Yuxin Lin of China lines up a putt during Round 1 of the 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by AAC)
Interestingly, both men stumbled at the start. Lin bogeyed his first hole, a par 4, while Nakajima birdied it. But Nakajima’s hand slipped on his driver at the next hole, and his tee shot sailed out of bounds to set up a double bogey.
“I had a good birdie at first hole, so I believe that I can make more birdies,” Nakajima said of recovering from an early big number.
The two men combined for 10 birdies over the next 11 holes.
Zheng, a sophomore at Duke, is the only New Zealander in the field of 93 players.
“I’m sure they will be happy to see that I’m at the top of the leaderboard, and I am happy having them cheer me on this week,” Zheng said of wearing his country’s colors.
Zheng eagled the fourth hole, a par 5, after setting up a 25-footer with a hybrid approach. His back nine included three birdies and no bogeys.
Yang, a freshman at Stanford who is representing Hong Kong this week, eagled the fourth as well as the 13th, another par 5. He closed with two birdies as the wind picked up.
“I had good shots all the way in starting on 17 tee,” he said. “I hit driver, which is aggressive but it set me up with a good look at the green and made a putt there. Same thing on 18, good drive on the fairway and hit the shot to about 10 feet and made it.”
Michel, the Mid-Am champ who competed in the 2020 Masters courtesy of that win, had five birdies and only a single bogey.
Add Jun Min Lee to the highlight reel for an impromptu dip he took at the par-4 second. Lee, of South Korea, feel backward into the water attempting to hit a shot and then had to go back in to retrieve his club.
South Korea's Jun Min Lee made a splash during Round 1 of #AAC2021 😂 We caught up with him after his round to learn more 👇 pic.twitter.com/xkBqkherMA
— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) November 3, 2021
“It was a poor tee shot and poor layup and I was stuck behind the rocks and I was trying to get it out in the front right of the green or front right fringe and I was like, man, I’ve got a stance, I’ve got this, I’ve got this,” he said. “So, I’m over it, I’m over it, getting ready, hit the shot and next thing I know, I throw my club and I’m falling back, ball is in the water. Overall, it’s a pretty eventful start to the day on hole 2!”
He walked away with a quadruple bogey there and despite spending much of the day squelching around the course in soaking shoes and clothes, recovered for a 2-over 73 that left him only six shots back.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship hits a little differently now that past champ Hideki Matsuyama has won the Masters.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship hasn’t been played since 2019 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. When it returns this week, it should resonate a little louder with players than it did in its first 11 iterations.
The goal of the championship, co-sanctioned by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, the Masters Tournament and the R&A, was always to open a pipeline from countries in the Asia-Pacific region of the world to the highest echelon of golf, namely the PGA Tour. The AAC, which awards a Masters invitation to its winner, was supposed to identify up-and-coming talent from the region and with two-time champion Hideki Matsuyama, at least, it did that. In April, Matsuyama became the first player to convert an AAC title into a Green Jacket. He also became the first player from Japan to win the Masters.
“It’s thrilling to think that there are a lot of youngsters in Japan watching today,” Matsuyama told media after winning the 2021 Masters. “Hopefully in five, ten years, when they get a little older, hopefully some of them will be competing on the world stage.”
Some might even be in this year’s AAC field. In preparation for this week’s tournament, to be played Nov. 3-6 at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club in Dubai, here are some noteworthy storylines to watch.
For the second consecutive year, the top honors in amateur golf go to Japan.
For the second consecutive year, the top honor in amateur golf goes to Japan. Keita Nakajima, the 21-year-old winner of this summer’s Japan Amateur, has been awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Nakajima has spent the past 17 weeks (and 30 total weeks since November 2020) atop the ranking. A year ago, compatriot Takumi Kanaya, who has since turned professional, earned the honor.
Nakajima has made a series of appearances in Japan Golf Tour Professional events over the past year in addition to top-20 finishes in the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup and Japan Open Championship. He was runner-up at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur.
“I am so excited and happy to have won the 2021 Mark H McCormack Medal,” said Nakajima. “Heading into university, my goal was to be the number one player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. I want to give many thanks for the support of my family, university, national team coaches and teammates. Without them, I could not have achieved this. I am also very proud and honoured to be awarded the medal following Takumi Kanaya.
“My next goal is to demonstrate my abilities on the world stage with confidence and hopefully follow in the footsteps of my fellow Japanese players including Hideki Matsuyama, Nasa Hataoka, Takumi Kanaya, and Yuka Saso.
“Thank you again to everyone who has supported me and to The R&A and USGA for their work in promoting amateur golf around the world. Arigato!”
Nakajima teed it up at the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont (Pennsylvania) Country Club last week but missed the cut to math play.
