Keita Nakajima’s 87 total weeks as the No. 1-ranked men’s amateur golfer in the world.

The 22-year-old from Japan relinquished his hold on the top spot of the World Amateur Golf Ranking last month when he announced his much anticipated decision to turn pro. With little fanfare — at least outside of Japan — Nakajima played for pay the last two weeks on the Japan Golf Tour, finishing T-48 at the Panasonic Open (which he won a year ago as an amateur) and T-26 at the Vantelin Tokai Classic. He also seems to be in line to earn an exemption into next week’s Zozo Championship, co-sanctioned by the JGT and the PGA Tour.

Replacing Nakajima in the WAGR standings is Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, a fifth-year senior at Texas Tech. Japan’s Taiga Semikawa is second with American Sam Burnett, winner of the US Amateur in August, third.

Nakajima first rose to No. 1 in November 2020 where he stayed for 13 weeks before being jumped by Davis Thompson. Less than two months later, Nakajima took back the top spot from Pierceson Coody (who topped Thompson for one lone week) and held it ever since. During his time atop the WAGR, Nakajima had four top-10 finishes in JGT events as an amateur, include the Panasonic victory. In addition, he made the cut in two PGA Tour events (T-28 at the 2021 Zozo Championship and 41st at the Sony Open). His record also notably included a victory at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai in 2021, which earned him a spot into this year’s Masters and Open Championship (he missed the cut in both, as well as the US Open at The Country Club).

During this second stint at No. 1, Nakajima passed Jon Rahm, who had been the previous record holder for most total weeks atop the WAGR at 60 before he turned pro in 2016.

Nakajima benefited from this year’s change in amateur status rules that allowed him to make money off his name, image and likeness while remaining an amateur. Before his Masters appearance in April he signed an equipment deal with TaylorMade.

Why might Nakajima’s record be unbreakable? After all, 87 weeks isn’t event two full years? Well, sustaining your game for that long a period as an amateur is a challenge on its own. And if you’re good enough to keep it going, the lure of pro golf and its big bucks — even bigger now with the emergence of LIV Golf potentially attracting top amateur players — is likely to have players jump quickly to maximise their value or risk seeing it decrease when they came potentially slows down.

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By Ryan Herrington
Francis Ouimet can give Bobby Jones a run for his money as the most notable amateur ever to win a US Open. The 20-year-old did so in grand fashion, winning the title in 1913 in a historic playoff upset of British greats Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. He did it on the course across the street from his house, The Country Club. Oh, and he put the sport on the map in the US.

Suffice it to say, asking an amateur to repeat Ouimet’s feat 109 years later is a bit much. (No amateur has won a US Open since Johnny Goodman in 1933.) But expecting one (or more) of the 15 guys playing for pride rather than pay this week to step up and show well is very realistic. Last year was the first time since 2007 that no amateur made the cut in the Open. And in the last 24 years, somebody has been around on Sunday to receive the low amateur medal 21 times.

So who is the most likely to succeed from the Class of 2022? Here is our breakdown of the amateurs competing in the USGA’s signature men’s event with their chances of making it to the weekend and vying for low-amateur honors. To sort and manage the group, we’ve created categories of confidence, 3 signifying being most confident to make the cut, down to 1.

Keita Nakajima. Andrew Redington

Confidence Level 3

Sam Bennett, 22, Madisonville, Texas
Keita Nakajima, 21, Japan
Michael Thorbjornsen, 20, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Travis Vick, 22, Hunters Creek Village, Texas
William Mouw, 21, Chino, California

Bennett comes in on a nine-month roll, having earned first-team All-American honours at Texas A&M with a 69.97 scoring average. He also had a top-10 at NCAAs earlier this month after a closing-round 64.

Just as he did at the Masters in April, Nakajima, the reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur champion (he won at Dubai Creek), arrives at the US Open as the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world by a large margin. But expectations are more tempered compared to at Augusta National. That should work to his benefit as he has more experience in professional events than any other amateur in the field, with another top-10 finish in May on the Japan Tour.

We don’t like Thorbjornsen, playing in his second US Open after making the cut at Pebble in 2019, talking about a wrist injury heading into this week at Brookline, with possible surgery awaiting later this year. That said, the Stanford junior-to-be has dealt with a version of this injury since high school and adrenaline should dull all the pain as he plays only 15 minutes from his family home in Wellseley.

Before Vick clinched the deciding point for Texas in its NCAA Championship win earlier this month, he played his way into the US Open in the Dallas final qualifier. If he gets airtime on TV this week, expect to hear a lot about how he was a multi-sport athlete in high school, having played quarterback on the football team and pitcher on the baseball team from a school that produced former MLB standouts Lance Berkman and Andy Pettitte. The experience is something Vick says has been a significant asset in him becoming a talent that reached the US Amateur semifinals last August.

Mouw, a junior at Pepperdine, had six top-10s in 14 starts this past season after playing on the victorious the US Walker Cup in 2021. And his game seems potentially suited to US Open venues; he was medalist in his final qualifier with a 12-under 130 showing at The Olympic Club.

Austin Greaser. David Cannon

Confidence Level 2

Fred Biondi, 21, Brazil
Adrian Dumont de Chassart, 22, Belgium
Austin Greaser, 21, Vandalia, Ohio
Stewart Hagestad, 31, Newport Beach, California
Ben Lorenz, 20, Peoria, Illinois

Biondi will be a fifth-year senior in the autumn at Florida and was runner-up at the 2022 Latin America Amateur. He’ll play for the International Team in college golf’s Palmer Cup later this summer.

The Belgian pipeline to the University of Illinois continued with Dumont de Chassart, who followed in the footsteps of tour pros Thomas Dietry and Thomas Pieters. And he’s had similar success, winning Big Ten player of the year twice.

Greaser, the US Amateur runner-up a year ago at Oakmont, will benefit from having played in the Masters and go through the “oh my gosh, I’m playing a major” tension before.

No amateur might be more motivated to make the cut than US Mid-Amateur champion Hagestad, who had played in three previous US Opens but failed to make the weekend in any of them.

Lorenz just finished his sophomore season at Oklahoma and drove with his older brother/caddie Blake the 12 hours from Arizona to Oregon to compete in his Final Qualifier. He started playing golf at age three and used to watch VHS tapes of Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus.

Laird Shepherd. Luke Walker / R&A

Confidence Level 1

Nick Dunlap, 18, Huntsville, Alabama
Caleb Manuel, 20, Topsham, Maine
Maxwell Moldovan, 20, Uniontown, Ohio
Charles Reiter 22, Palm Desert, California
Laird Shepherd, 24, England

Dunlap won the US Junior title last summer, securing his exemption to Brookline. He’s heading to Tuscaloosa to play on the Alabama golf team in the autumn. In addition to his golf prowess, he is past age-division runner-up in the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition.

Manuel should get some New England love this week, as the reigning Big East player of the year out of UConn. After getting through Final Qualifying he woke up to 250-plus messages on his phone. He first qualified for the Maine Amateur at age 13.

A rising junior at Ohio State, Moldovan was a three-time winner this past season while posting a 70.79 stroke average, the best by a Buckeye since 1980. He and his father, John, a teaching pro who is caddieing for him, drove from Ohio to Boston and then they’ll head to Rhode Island next week to play in the Northeast Amateur.

Reiter, a junior at San Diego, has got three sponsor’s exemptions into The American Express, where he shot a 63 at PGA West during the third round in 2019.

This is the last of the majors that Shepherd is exempt into off his British Amateur victory a year ago, having missed the cut at the Open Championship and the Masters. The timing of the US Open, unfortunately, means he can’t defend that British Amateur title, as the championship is going on this week at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

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By Matt Smith
After a decade-long absence, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) will return to Amata Springs Country Club in Thailand.

The 13th edition of the AAC will be held at the Chonburi venue from October 27-30, the R&A has announced.

This will be the first time since 2012 that Amata will host the competition, with last year’s tournament being held at Dubai Creek Golf Club in the UAE, in collaboration with the Emirates Golf Federation.

Created in 2009, the AAC was established to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region. The champion will receive an invitation to compete in the 2023 US Masters and 151st Open Championship, while the runner(s)-up will gain a place in final qualifying for The Open.

“We look forward to bringing the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship back to Amata and gathering the region’s top players at this exceptional venue once again,” said Taimur Amin, Chairman of the Asian Pacific Golf Confederation, Fred Ridley, Chairman of the Masters Tournament, and Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, in a joint statement.

“This year will be a special opportunity to build on the growth we’ve seen in amateur golf over the last 10 years since the event was last held in Thailand. We are grateful to our hosts in the region as we work together to promote the game’s development and provide pathways for talented amateurs across the Asia-Pacific.”

Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the AAC, and Cameron Smith, who won The Players in March and is currently the fourth-ranked player in the world. Collectively, AAC alumni have gone on to win 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date.

“We are thrilled to once again host the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship,” said Andrew Yau, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amata Spring Country Club. “Amata Spring is excited to present a challenging test for the best amateur golfers across the Asia-Pacific region.”

The 13th @AAC_golf will return to Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand, October 27-30, 2022.

Read more ? https://t.co/FBWnpj9DJs pic.twitter.com/pXyGqbLKCj

— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) May 11, 2022

Amata Spring Country Club was designed by Lee Schmidt and established in 2005. In addition to previously hosting the AAC in 2012, the course has provided the backdrop for prestigious events such as the LPGA Thailand, the Thailand Golf Championship and the Royal Trophy team event.

“Hosting the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is a unique opportunity to support the game of golf in Thailand as the talent in our country continues to grow,” said Rungsrid Luxsitanonda, president of the Thailand Golf Association. “We are proud to invite the top amateurs from across the region back to Thailand and Amata Spring and look forward to another exciting edition of the AAC.”

Over the AAC’s 13-year history, the Championship has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players, including future PGA Tour winners Matsuyama, CT Pan, Smith, Cameron Davis, Lucas Herbert, Si Woo Kim, Satoshi Kodaira and Kyoung-Hoon Lee.

Last November at the Dubai Creek, Japan’s Keita Nakajima came out on top, and Dubai’s own Rayhan Thomas was runner up to Takumi Kanaya in the 2018 edition.

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Japan’s Keita Nakajima will make it three since the inception of the WAGR in 2007, and there is a genuine hype surrounding his presence in Georgia. The 21-year-old has won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai, the Japan Amateur and the Australian Amateur. He has been No. 1 in the WAGR for the last 50 weeks, and 63 weeks in total in his career. He’s also spent much of the last two years playing events on the Japan Pro Tour, winning once and posting four other top-10 finishes. Then there’s the T-28 at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship last autumn and a 41st-place showing at the Sony Open in January. It’s why Nakajima ranks 239th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the only amateur inside the top 390.

Back in Dubai at the AAC, Nakajima spoke openly about the pressure he felt trying to win so that he could compete at Augusta the same year that countryman Hideki Matsuyama. He handled it in grand fashion, shooting 64-65 in the final two rounds to fulfill his dream. This bodes well considering the pressure he says he’s feeling this week as well.

“I’m nervous. I’m nervous playing in front of many fans,” Nakajima said. “All I’m trying to achieve is do my best, focus on my preparation. I know lots of people support me, so I want to do my best for them as well. I haven’t set a result goal yet, but I just want to do my best.”

Unspoken is the hope that his “best” will result in Nakajima sitting beside Masters Chairman Fred Ridley in the Butler Cabin on Sunday and being recognised as low amateur before the green jacket is slipped on the overall champion. Nakajima’s track record — good enough for TaylorMade to make him the first top amateur golfer to sign name, image and likeness equipment deal since the change to the amateur rules — makes him the favourite among the six amateurs competing this week.

In 2021, just three amateurs competed in the Masters and none made the cut — only the second time in the last 12 years that’s happened. So who among the six is most capable of playing 72 holes this week? Here’s a peek at the players, in alphabetical order, along with a look at their chances of making the cut.

Austin Greaser, 21, United States

World Amateur Golf Ranking: 25
How he qualified: US Amateur runner-up

When the University of North Carolina junior played on Monday, he said it was his seventh trip around Augusta National since qualifying last August. But he also said that the experience was “100 per cent” different with fans and with the course in tournament shape. “It’s very cool, though, so it’s exactly what you would imagine, exactly what you dream of. Honestly it boils down to the way you execute shots doesn’t change. Maybe get some claps along with it, but you’ve still got to execute, still got to get out there and play your game plan and see how it goes.”

Greaser is like a lot of modern amateurs, hitting the ball long off the tee. But he says his biggest asset this week is his putting. “I grew up in the Midwest on bentgrass greens, so these greens are very comfortable to me, and I think I can read them pretty well, too, so we’ll see what happens at the end of the week, but I definitely feel pretty comfortable on the greens. It’s not easy but comfortable”

Stewart Hagestad, 30, Los Angeles

World Amateur Golf Ranking: 16
How he qualified: US Mid-Amateur champion

Hagestad has proved he knows how to make the cut in the Masters, doing just that in his one previous appearance in 2017. At that time, he also ended the ‘Mid-Amateur’ jinx — no golfer who played in the Masters by virtual of winning the US Mid-Amateur (which Hagestad first won in 2016) had ever previously made the cut. Asked about how he feels coming in this year compared to the last time, Hagestad had an interesting, if obvious, response: “I think the biggest difference is the first time around you don’t really know what you don’t know, and this time you have a little bit better understanding of what it’s going to feel like and what sort of moments or shots your adrenaline is going to be up.”

Impressively, this is the fifth career major Hagestad will be playing, after playing in the US Open in 2017, 2018 and 2019. His comfort level, then, should actually be the best of all the amateur playing this week. Hagestad is set to get an MBA degree from USC in May and will start to work for a private equity firm in Chicago.

Aaron Jarvis, 19, Cayman Islands

World Amateur Golf Ranking: 825
How he qualified: Latin America Amateur champion

Skinny: A UNLV freshman, Jarvis is the first golfer from the Cayman Islands to ever compete in the Masters. He was ranked 1,669 in the WAGR when he became an upset winner of the Latin America Amateur in January. Suffice it to say, Jarvis is trying to make the most of his Masters opportunity. On Sunday, he and US Amateur champion James Piot were playing a practice round and making the turn when they noticed Tiger Woods jump ahead of them on the 10th tee. On the 11th tee, Jarvis approached Woods, hoping perhaps the two of them could join him. Woods politely said he wanted to play alone. Jarvis was proud of himself for giving it a shot: “You know, there’s no better ‘no’ from or better rejection from Tiger Woods, right? It was pretty cool seeing him playing in front of me. And after the round I got to talk to him and [caddie] Joe [LaCava] for 10 minutes or so, and it was just incredible.”

Keita Nakajima, 21, Japan

World Amateur Golf Ranking: 1
How he qualified: Asia-Pacific Amateur champion

How good is Nakajima’s game? In five of his eight rounds in PGA Tour events, he’s shot in the 60s. After his performance at the Sony Open in January, he was ranked as high as 188th in the OWGR.

James Piot, 23, United States

World Amateur Golf Ranking: 60
How he qualified: U.S. Amateur champion

The reigning US Amateur champion is soaking up the experience. He’s spent three nights this week in the Crow’s Nest, waking up at 8 am on Monday morning only to realise how busy things already were in the clubhouse. “Yeah, I still didn’t know the deal, if I could go down in my PJs or something like that. I woke up at 8, and I already saw some of the big names teeing off, and I’m like, ‘oh, man, I’ve got to get going. Rush through your routine and get going.’ So it was really awesome.”

Since winning the US Amateur at Oakmont last August, Piot has had a so-so senior season at Michigan State; in eight starts he’s had one top-10 finish (a victory at the Island Resort Intercollegiate in September). He played his first pro event at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month, missing the cut with back-to-back 78s.

Laird Shepherd, 24, Scotland

World Amateur Golf Ranking: 47
How he qualified: British Amateur champion

Shepherd qualified for the Masters with his historic British Amateur win at Nairn last June. He was eight down after 17 holes in the 36-hole championship match with Monty Scowsill, seven down with 14 holes to play and four down with four to play, only to win the final four holes and then win on the second hole of sudden death. The dramatic turnaround was made more poignant given his back story: He had knee surgery in 2018 and suffered from back issues that seemed to set his career back. After graduating from the University of Stirling in June 2020, he worked in a Tesco call centre to help pay his bills during the COVID lockdown. Shepherd has struggled some in his pro appearances since his big win: He missed the cut at Royal St George’s and the Open Championship last July and has made just one cut in four DP World Tour starts in 2021.

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By John Huggan
DUBAI, U.A.E. — Creating heroes: It all starts here.

The slogan/motto/legend/promise that dominated just about every aspect of the landscape around the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club is one the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship can more than justify, no matter the definition of choice. A stepping stone. A life-changing moment. Call it what you will, the premier amateur event in this vast region has, since its inception in 2009, provided the ultimate springboard for any number of successful careers.

Jumping forward from the trips to the Masters and the Open Championship that are the immediate rewards for AAC champions, as many as eight future PGA Tour winners— Cameron Smith, Cameron Davis, Lucas Herbert, Si-Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, C.T. Pan, Satoshi Kodaira and K.H. Lee—are proud alumnus of the tournament that next year will become a teenager.

The most notable name on that list, of course, is that of Matsuyama, the current Masters champion. Winner of the Asia-Pacific Am in 2010 and again in 2011, the now 29-year-old is the first male from his golf-crazy nation to win one of the game’s four most important titles.

But here’s the thing. While the likes of Matsuyama and the latest champion, countryman Keita Nakajima, garner the vast majority of the headlines, the aims and aspirations of the AAC are actually more about the competitive also-rans than those luminaries at the top of the leader board. Together, the tournament organizers—the R&A and Augusta National Golf Club—tick more than that obvious box.

“There were two sets of people in the field here at Dubai Creek this week,” says R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, who, along with ANGC chairman Fred Ridley, attended all four days of competition. “One contains the players who are ready to win and find out if they are good enough to compete as professionals. But just as important for me and the values of the R&A … we want the game to grow, [and] this gives the rest of the field a glimpse into the level they have to get to. And to see how far off they are from the very best.

“We had countries here with sophisticated development systems, nations like Australia, India and South Korea. But we also had others who don’t have anything like that. For me, the biggest value in this event is seen in that second group, more than the guys who have gone on and won.”

Indeed, there is no doubting the R&A’s commitment. Before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt, the St. Andrews-based organization held the inaugural AAC Academy at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. A one-week comprehensive training camp, the aim was to enhance the capabilities of players from developing golf nations in an effort to advance their skills and, in time, create the buzz word used by many associated with this event and its counterpart in the Latin America Amateur Championship—“heroes.”

“We brought some of the best coaches, nutritionists and sports scientists from around the region, and we exposed the players to all of that coaching,” Slumbers says. “Our overall intention was to help them move up and give them the skills to be able to fulfill their own destiny and their own skill level. We are fortunate in that we hail from a country where golf is well-developed. We see the Masters. We see the Open. And we all know players who have played in those big events. But when you come out here to Asia it is as if those majors are on a different planet. Now, through the AAC, we’ve put them on the same planet. All of the things that have taken 100 years back home have happened in 12 years here. We’ve accelerated the process.”

Photo courtesy of the R&A
In addition to holding the championship, the R&A has hosted an AAC Academy to help developing players receive access to better coaching and training.

That much is true, as evidenced by the reactions of Cambodia’s Pich Meta Peou and Vanseiha Seng. Both were part of the Singapore experiment, and both were in Dubai as better people and players as a result. Neither made the 36-hole cut, but the looks on their faces and the enthusiasm in their voices as they described their experience is proof enough of the success of the R&A’s mission.

“The Academy and this event has been so important to my development,” says Seng, 28, the only man who has played in all 12 AACs. “I feel I am a completely different player now. I knew how to hit the golf ball, but playing in the AAC and especially being part of the AAC Academy taught me such crucial elements of the game like course management, warm-up routines, physical training, what can be done with the equipment—the list goes on. Plus, to play at this level is so exciting. They make us feel so special when we play. And it has taken me to so any great places. I have made so many friends with players from other countries like Oman, Bhutan and Mongolia.”

‘We had countries here with sophisticated development systems, nations like Australia, India and South Korea. But we also had others who don’t have anything like that. For me, the biggest value in this event is seen in that second group, more than the guys who have gone on and won.’ —Martin Slumbers, R&A CEO

Elsewhere, definite progress is being made on the playing side. The starting line-up at Dubai Creek contained 93 players from 29 countries. The halfway cut, which fell at a creditable two over par, knocked the number of competitors down to 50. And within them, 15 nations were represented. The usual suspects like Australia, China, Japan and South Korea were still around, as one might expect, but so were Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and the Philippines.

“Any time you get on a plane to go to the AAC is special. It is just such an unbelievable opportunity,” says Leon D’Souza from Hong Kong who finished T-31 on one under par. “This is an unbelievable event, one that helps so many players at so many levels. It is always played on a great course. And outside of the event, what Augusta National and the R&A are doing to grow golf in Asia is amazing. The game is growing in places where it was almost unheard of, say, a decade ago, which is hugely important. I love to look around at this event and see guys who will only ever play in amateur events. For them, this must be such a special tournament and a great week, one that might just change their lives. This is one of the best weeks in amateur golf anywhere.”

That’s message was echoed several times last week. It was impossible to find a player who wasn’t grateful for the chance to play and appreciative of the event’s back-story. Ahmed Skaik from the host UAE was typical.

“It’s pretty inspirational to be playing in the same event Hideki won,” says Skaik, who hit the opening tee shot in Wednesday’s first round. “Now he is Masters champion. It just shows how, if you play big events and keep practicing, how far you can get in the game.”

Slumbers noted that the 2021 tournament was bound for Royal Melbourne but COVID prevented the Australian course from host, with Dubai stepping in to help. The venue change, however, proved inspirational in other ways.

Charles Laberge
The hope is that Nakajima’s win in 2021 can impact future generations of Asian players to follow his path, just as past AAC champ Hideki Matsuyama did for Nakajima.

“It’s been more of an eye-opener to come here and see how good golf can be in the UAE,” Slumbers says. “Dubai and the other emirates can help us grow the game. The world is going to be different post-COVID, and this part of the world is going to be more important than before.

“We are going to see the platforms develop here at a rapid rate,” Slumbers continues. “For the next generation of players. I’ve had conversations here. They want our help in making golf more than tourism and the European Tour. How can we make it a sport for a wider cross-section of the population. I’m delighted to help with something I’m not sure we would have done quite so readily pre-COVID. Our focus was maybe elsewhere.”

‘It’s pretty inspirational to be playing in the same event Hideki won. … It just shows how, if you play big events and keep practicing, how far you can get in the game.’ —Ahmed Skaik, AAC participant from the U.A.E.

Ahmad Skaik.

Speaking of which, the third Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship takes place this week at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. First played in 2018, the event (in retrospect) got off to something off a flying start. The inaugural winner was Atthaya Thitikul, who topped the Order of Merit on the Ladies European Tour this year, the Thai emerging from a five-way playoff that also included the current U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso and ANA Inspiration winner, Patty Tavatanakit.

“Women’s golf has always been strong in Asia, but there is another wave of great players on the way,” Slumbers says. “This week will be interesting. The winner gets into the AIG Women’s Open, the Evian Masters and the ANA Inspiration. We have pretty much covered the globe with our event and the Latin America championships. It’s pure, proper golf. Business pays for it, but it is proper golf.”

On and off the course, he could easily have added.

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By John Huggan
DUBAI, U.A.E. — Right from the start, he was the man to beat in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. And, in the end, no one did. It took the world’s leading amateur, Keita Nakajima, 74 holes to get the job done, but the 21-year-old from Japan was just good enough to see off a stream of final-round challengers, the last being Taichi Kho of Hong Kong in a playoff after the pair tied at 14-under 270 in regulation at the Dubai Creek course.

The numbers make impressive reading, adding this latest title to an ever-lengthening and increasingly impressive list of victories. Already, Nakajima has won the Australian Amateur, the Japanese Amateur (after four runners-up finishes), two gold medals at the Asian Games and, against the professionals, the Panasonic Open on the Japanese Tour. And now he can add a trip to Augusta, Ga., to his 2022 itinerary. Already exempt into the U.S. Open and the Open Championship through his status as World No. 1, the student at Nippon Sports Science University will be invited to join compatriot and defending champion, Hideki Matsuyama, at next year’s Masters.

Which will come as something of a relief. Nakajima, the third Japanese golfer after Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya to be hailed the No. 1 amateur on the planet—in recognition of which he received the Mark H. McCormack medal on Friday evening—was desperate to follow their lead for a second time by winning this championship.

“Takumi has become a good friend and mentor to me, and we played on the national team together for some time,” he said. “He once told me to ‘confront yourself and keep challenging.’ I really like that and will try and follow his advice. So I’m excited and I’m very happy to follow Hideki and Takumi. I have three major tournaments next year, and I can’t wait. It’s so nice. I think it’s an honour to attend this event, and I’m so happy to win. It’s a great tournament. I had a great week.”

That he did, one that brought with it those big and well-earned rewards at the close of a final day in which the leading 10 finishers made 56 birdies and an eagle between them over the 6,795-yard course. Nakajima made six of those birdies (seven if we include the clinching birdie on the second playoff hole) and survived all sorts of ups-and-downs over the course of an ever-changing four-and-a-bit hours he spent hitting 68 shots and pulling his own trolley.

Winning in style ?

Showing why @keita_nakajima2 is the World Number One ? pic.twitter.com/XqlUCTPIEC

— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) November 6, 2021

Indeed, Nakajima’s closing effort was hardly without error. A dropped shot at the par-4 sixth was a mere blip given the four-shot advantage he enjoyed early. But the double-bogey 6 he perpetrated on the ninth spelled trouble with a capital T. Suddenly all kinds of players were given hope where previously there had been close to none.

Still, it is in such moments that true class tells. And Nakajima stepped up, playing the back-nine in three under par to set up the playoff with Kho, who had followed up his third-round 64 with an almost-as-nifty 65.

It was Kho who hit the better drive and the better approach on the first playoff hole, a return to Dubai Creek’s par-4 18th. But Nakajima, as he had done on the last hole of regulation, made a matching par from the waste area right of the narrow fairway. And it was from there again, one hole later, that the destination of the trophy was eventually decided.

From a lie that was less appetizing than those Nakajima had been faced with, Kho’s attempted approach caught the lip and finished in the water. As it turned out, the champion’s final birdie was less than vital. Had the ball missed the cup, Nakajima, second behind Kanaya in this event three years ago, had two more putts with which to clinch his victory.

“I was up against the lip,” said Kho, a college golfer at Notre Dame, of his ultimately unveiling attempt to find the 18th green for third time in less than an hour. “It wasn’t a great lie, and I just caught it a hair thin, the ball hitting the top of the bunker. But if I had it to do again, I would pick the same shot, have the same process. I did everything I could to hit a good shot, but it just didn’t turn out my way. I have no regrets looking back. Today’s back nine, even the playoff, really gives me a lot of confidence going forward. I did a lot of things that I know that I can, but it’s another to actually do it under pressure. I feel really proud of myself.”

Graham Uden
Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, after closing rounds of 64-65, took Nakajima to a playoff, but a watery approach on the second extra hole cost him.

A bit further down the leader board, the defending champion, China’s Yuxin Lin, pulled up in a tie for seventh place, which was not how it was supposed to go for the 21-year-old who is a junior at the University of Florida. The head-to-head battle he was seemingly destined to have with Nakajima—the pair played alongside each other in three of the four rounds—never really materialized.

Put it down to Lin’s version of a “triple-double.” The first of those came as early as the second hole, where his approach found the water fronting the green; the second arrived at the 15th, the result of a lost ball off the tee. Two pars at those holes and Lin would have been holding the trophy at this event for the third time.

That honor belongs to Nakajima, a young man who started playing at the age 6 after watching Tiger Woods on television and who personifies the phrase “star of the future.” Already he is playing golf on a level that is competitive at the highest level. Only a few weeks ago, he finished a creditable T-28 in his PGA Tour debut at the Zozo Championship. His score there matched the likes of Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, Joaquin Niemann and Charley Hoffman and was better than Rickie Fowler, Olympic bronze medallist, C.T. Pan, and Will Zalatoris, runner-up in this year’s Masters.

So the kid can play, something he did better than anyone else this week.

The post A simple motivation propelled World No. 1 Keita Nakajima to the biggest win of his young career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
World amateur No.1 Keita Nakajima and two-time champion Yuxin Lin have lived up to the pre-event hype by setting up a potentially thrilling finale to the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (ACC).

Japan’s Nakajima leads by one from Lin after making one of the eye-catching moves on moving day at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, a four-under 67 taking him to -11.

Nakajima mixed five birdies with a bogey on the challenging par-3 8th but it was the par putt he sank on the Creek’s notorious 18th, after his tee shot found the water and threatened to derail an impressive third round, that stood out.

“I’m happy and feeling good. At the start of the round, I felt a bit nervous, but I birdied No. 3 and 4, and that gave me good momentum.  I’m excited and enjoying my golf, so I just hope I can play well and with confidence,” said Nakajima.     

With starts at the Masters at Augusta National, the 150th Open at St. Andrews and the 127th Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, Nakajima can be assured the nerves will return today.

Lin, 21, knows the pressure and the rewards after winning the 2017 title at Royal Wellington in New Zealand and the last of the pre-pandemic outbreak ACCs at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai in 2019.

Yuxin Lin.

The lefty started the third round four shots off the lead in a tie for 15th after a disappointing second round of 71. But a blistering start with birdies on his first three holes and a further four gains against a solitary bogey saw the Beijing lad sign for a six-under 65 to get to -10. Sam Choi and overnight leader Bo Jin are both well poised on -9.

Elsewhere, UAE No.1 Ahmad Skaik is now sitting on +4 for the tournament after a difficult six-over round, which included two double bogeys. The left-hander was left to rue some bad luck, which included a lost ball from just off the fairway on the 10th hole.

“I was actually playing decent but for those doubles. I made a few silly decisions after that. On eight it was a tough pin position and I still tried to go for it. I left myself a difficult stance in the back of the bunker and ended up with double when I should really have walked away with bogey at worst.

“And on 10 I hit a drive just left of fairway, but couldn’t find the ball, which was very unlucky, I think. It is not always going to go your way on the golf course.”

Ahmad Skaik.

The post Big names eye Masters and Open invites as Asia-Pacific set for thrilling finale at Dubai Creek appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The UAE No.1 added an even par 71 to his opening 69 to move to -2 for the championship, six strokes adrift of Bo Jin’s halfway lead at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

RELATED: Dubai prodigy Rayhan Thomas has helped a Chinese teen with family history to the halfway lead at the Asia Pacific

Skaik joined Ahmed Al Musharrekh – who made the cut at the 2011 ACC won by Hideki Matsuyama at Singapore Island Country Club – as the only Emiratis to advance to the weekend at the region’s premier amateur event.

Bogeys on the 16th and 18th courtesy of a pair of three-putts from the fringe saw Skaik tumble 10 places down the leaderboard to a shared of 22nd. But he was just happy to get into the clubhouse and regroup to go again after an injury plagued build-up.

“I’m very happy. Coming into this, I didn’t think I’m going to make the cut because I’m not playing well. I had a lesson with my coach two days before the tournament and I felt much better, and in control of my game, so happy to be here.”

Anything in particular that you worked on?

“Just the swing. I was trying to work on tempo and take away and that’s very crucial to my game and it worked out pretty well.”

Still, Thursday’s second round was a grind.

“It was a struggle out there. I didn’t hit it well. I struggled off the tee and with my irons, but my putting was on and my wedges, that helped me,” said Skaik.

“I didn’t really pay attention to the leaderboard. I was just trying to focus on my own game. Just stay patient and wait for it. The front nine I didn’t hit it well, and I finished level par and then managed to make two birdies on 10 and 14. But I’m happy. Level par is fine.”

Skaik, who has bogeyed the 7th and 18th in both of the first two rounds, is looking forward to the weekend.

“I mean, now I can play relaxed because I’ve made the cut, which was my goal but now let’s hope tomorrow I can strike it well and just get the putter rolling as well.”

With pro ambitions, Skaik also knows playing in the field with the likes of world amateur No.1 Keita Nakajima and two-time champion Yuxin Lee is an invaluable learning experience.

“They are the best of the best in the amateur game, so obviously we look up to them, especially Yuxin because he’s a lefty like me. It’s pretty good to play with them and hopefully in the future we get to play in the same group.”

The post UAE No.1 Amhad Skaik looks to cash-in on unexpected weekend play at the Asia-Pacific Amateur appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
World amateur No.1 Keita Nakajima and defending champion Yuxin Lin will begin Thursday’s second round right where they want to be but probably didn’t count on quite so much company atop the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship leaderboard.

Japan’s Nakajima and China’s Lin, both 21, opened with contrasting four-under 67s at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club on Wednesday to share the lead with five others: Alexander Yang (Hong Kong), Jimmy Zheng (New Zealand), Wooyoung Cho, WAGR No.14 Sam Choi (both South Korea) and Australian Lukas Michel, the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion.

RELATED: Watch this South Korean amateur quite literally make the biggest splash on day 1 at the Asia-Pacific

Michel’s countryman Hayden Hopewell, Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, China’s Aaron Du and Chinese Taipei’s Chi-Chun Chen occupied T-8 place at -3 while UAE No.1 Amhad Skaik and Jordan trailblazer Shergo Kurdi are among 12 players on -2 after a breezy day that saw 33 of the 93-strong field better par.

The projected cut – encompassing the top 50 players and ties – sat at +1 overnight.

Teeing off together at 09:05 local time, Lin and Nakajima could not have had more different starts to their rounds. Lin opened with a bogey, while Nakajima started with a birdie then made a double bogey on the very next hole when his tee shot went out of bounds by inches.

Undeterred by the setback, the Japanese star fought back with six birdies in the next 11 holes to claim sole possession of the lead at one stage, before a late bogey on the 16th pegged him back.

“I was very happy with the way I managed the golf course today,” said Nakajima who is aiming to become the third Japanese player to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur after Hideki Matsuyama (2010 and 2011) and Takumi Kanaya (2018).

Keita Nakajima

“That’s something I want to keep on doing. The putting was also good. I made some good ones and then I missed a few short ones,” said Nakajima.

“I really enjoyed playing with Yuxin. He made some good birdies on the front nine and I also followed him. I did not pay attention to his scores but if I am tied with the defending champion, it’s always a good thing. There’s a lot of golf to be played so we will see.”

The bogey on the first was Lin’s only error. He made four birdies before the turn and added another on the 17th hole.

“I thought I played pretty solid today. It was not the best start, but I stayed pretty patient out there and hit some good shots on the front nine,” said Lin who hopes to become the events first three time champion after winning in 2017 and 2019.

“I am just trying to stick to the game plan and just stay patient out there.  Everyone is going to make mistakes, so just stay calm and ready for the next shot and really just give my everything on every shot.”

[divider] [/divider]

THEY SAID IT…

Alexander Yang (Hong Kong) on eagles on the 4th and 13th en-route to a 67
“I think everything just lined up for those two eagles.  I hit a great drive, great approach shot on the green and just made a longer putt. I played solid, so I’m happy about it. My strategy on the golf course will stay the same as it was today.  It worked today, so let’s just keep going with it.”

Sam Choi (South Korea) on recovering from a tough start to finish on 67

“I started out really, really badly actually. I hit zero fairways the first five holes, and then I kind of figured it out along the way. On No. 2, I hit an 8-iron to six feet from the bunker 163 out, and made birdie and on 5, the par 3, I hit the same thing, an 8-iron, 163 to two feet and made birdie. After that, I hit some really good iron shots coming in and made really good putts, too.”

Lukas Michel (Australia) on also tying the lead despite a struggle off the tee

“I definitely didn’t have my best driving performance but the rest of my game was really solid. My chipping, putting and approach play was good. I got lucky a few times with driver but I think I was due that. It was not great and when the wind picked up I started to miss more. It was solid early but coming down the stretch it was a struggle and as we know, you need to drive the last two holes well and I didn’t.  But I managed to salvage pars and that was good.”

The post World No.1 and defending champion ominously positioned in seven-way Asia-Pacific lead at Dubai Creek appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
While he undoubtedly shares the field-wide dream of earning invites to The Masters at Augusta National in April and July’s milestone 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, Amhad Skaik’s reality at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is very much in the here and now.

The UAE No.1 has been handed the honour of hitting the opening shot at the 12th edition of the region’s pre-eminent amateur event at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. He’ll do so at 7.15am on Wednesday, the first of 93 players looking to emulate the likes of two-time former champion Hideki Matsuyama at the 72-hole strokeplay event by becoming Asia-Pacific champion with its two major benefits.

“It is an honour…for Dubai to host the tournament, and for me to be hitting the opening shot of the tournament. It is very special. I’m just excited to get going, and it is good to go out first,” said the 24-year-old left-hander.

Like many in the field, Skaik has plenty of experience but little recent competition play to draw on after the obvious impact of the pandemic on golf’s global amateur calendar.

“My form is pretty good. This is my second tournament in six months. So, let’s see how that goes,” he said.

“The AAC is a very big tournament, and it means a lot to me to do well, especially here in my country. I’ve played the event three times and didn’t play as well as I wanted, so I’m hoping that I’ll make the cut and play much better than before.”

Skaik, who will be flying the UAE flag alongside Khalid Yousuf, Khalifa Al Masaood and Rashid Al Emadi this week, is looking for a fast start.

“In terms of conditions, I think the ball will fly a bit faster in the morning. The Creek course can be a little windy in the afternoon but over the first two rounds we are going to get exposure to both morning and afternoon golf so it is not going to make such a difference. I’m playing pretty good, let’s see how it goes.”

HISTORY: UAE No.1 Ahmad Skaik gets the 12th Asia Pacific Amateur Championship underway at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. It is the first time the UAE has hosted the prestigious event.

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