Keita Nakajima | |
Birth Date: | 24 June 2000 |
Birth Place: | Saitama, Japan |
Height: | 5ft 10in |
Weight: | 160 lb |
College: | Nippon Sport Science University |
Yearpro: | 2022 |
Tour: | European Tour Japan Golf Tour Korn Ferry Tour |
Prowins: | 5 |
Eurowins: | 1 |
Japwins: | 4 |
Masters: | CUT: 2022 |
Usopen: | CUT: 2022 |
Open: | CUT: 2022, 2023, 2024 |
Pga: | CUT: 2024 |
Award1: | Mark H. McCormack Medal |
Year1: | 2021, 2022 |
Award2: | Japan Golf Tour money list winner |
Year2: | 2023 |
Award3: | Japan Golf Tour Most Valuable Player |
Year3: | 2023 |
Award4: | Japan Golf Tour Rookie of the Year |
Year4: | 2023 |
Keita Nakajima (Japanese: 中島啓太, born 24 June 2000) is a Japanese professional golfer. He had an exceptionally successful amateur career and was number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 87 weeks. He also won the Panasonic Open on the Japan Golf Tour while still an amateur.[1] [2]
Nakajima started playing golf at six and had a successful amateur career, winning the 2018 Australian Amateur and the 2021 Japan Amateur Championship, after finishing runner-up at the event in 2015, 2017 and 2019. He was runner-up at the 2017 Duke of York Young Champions Trophy in England and the 2019 Australian Master of the Amateurs. In 2018, he was runner-up at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, before winning the event in 2021 in a playoff with Hong Kong's Taichi Kho. Nakajima became the third Japanese champion of the tournament, joining Hideki Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya.
He played in a number of representative matches, including the 2017 Nomura Cup, the 2022 Eisenhower Trophy and the 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup, which the international team won 33½–26½ over the American team. Nakajima won both the individual and team gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games. He was world ranked number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 87 weeks between 2020 and 2022, surpassing Jon Rahm's previous record of 60 weeks.[3] He won the Mark H. McCormack Medal for 2021 and 2022, the first two-time recipient.[4]
While still an amateur, Nakajima played in a number of professional tournaments.[5] In 2021, he was runner-up at the Token Homemate Cup, a stroke behind Takumi Kanaya, and won the Panasonic Open in a playoff. After he made the cut at the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii, he rose to 188th in the Official World Golf Rankings.[6]
Nakajima turned professional in the fall of 2022 and made his professional PGA Tour debut at the 2022 Zozo Championship, where he finished T12.[7]
In 2023, Nakajima won three times on the Japan Golf Tour in his rookie season. He topped the money list,[8] as well as claiming Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year honours.[9]
In March 2024, Nakajima claimed his first victory on the European Tour, winning the Hero Indian Open wire-to-wire by four shots.[10]
Source:[11]
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 26 Sep 2021 | Panasonic Open (as an amateur) | −18 (69-68-65-68=270) | Playoff | Ryutaro Nagano | |
2 | 11 Jun 2023 | ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament | −29 (67-64-63-65=259) | Playoff | Takumi Kanaya | |
3 | 6 Aug 2023 | Yokohama Minato Championship | −13 (69-69-67-66=271) | 1 stroke | Taiga Semikawa | |
4 | 5 Nov 2023 | Mynavi ABC Championship | −24 (63-69-66-66=264) | 3 strokes | Shaun Norris |
Japan Golf Tour playoff record (2–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2021 | Panasonic Open (as an amateur) | Ryutaro Nagano | Won with par on first extra hole | |
2 | 2023 | Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open | Kensei Hirata | Lost to birdie on third extra hole | |
3 | 2023 | ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament | Takumi Kanaya | Won with birdie on second extra hole |
Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | CUT | |||
PGA Championship | CUT | |||
U.S. Open | CUT | |||
The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT |
Amateur