Keita Nakajima

Keita Nakajima
Nakajima in 2021
Personal information
Born (2000-06-24) 24 June 2000 (age 24)
Saitama, Japan
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight160 lb (73 kg)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
CollegeNippon Sport Science University
Turned professional2022
Current tour(s)European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Korn Ferry Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking75 (14 April 2024)[1]
(as of 24 November 2024)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour1
Japan Golf Tour4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2022
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2024
U.S. OpenCUT: 2022
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2022, 2023, 2024
Achievements and awards
Mark H. McCormack Medal2021, 2022
Japan Golf Tour
money list winner		2023
Japan Golf Tour
Most Valuable Player		2023
Japan Golf Tour
Rookie of the Year		2023
Medal record
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta–Palembang Men's individual
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta–Palembang Men's team

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.[2][3]

Amateur career

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.[4]

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.[4] He won the Mark H. McCormack Medal for 2021 and 2022, the first two-time recipient.[5]

While still an amateur, Nakajima played in a number of professional tournaments.[6] 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.[7]

Professional career

Nakajima turned professional in the fall of 2022 and made his professional PGA Tour debut at the 2022 Zozo Championship, where he finished T12.[8]

In 2023, Nakajima won three times on the Japan Golf Tour in his rookie season. He topped the money list,[9] as well as claiming Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year honours.[10]

In March 2024, Nakajima claimed his first victory on the European Tour, winning the Hero Indian Open wire-to-wire by four shots.[11]

Amateur wins

Source:[12]

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 31 Mar 2024 Hero Indian Open1 −17 (65-65-68-73=271) 4 strokes India Veer Ahlawat, Sweden Sebastian Söderberg,
United States Johannes Veerman

1Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India

Japan Golf Tour wins (4)

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 Japan Ryutaro Nagano
2 11 Jun 2023 ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament −29 (67-64-63-65=259) Playoff Japan Takumi Kanaya
3 6 Aug 2023 Yokohama Minato Championship −13 (69-69-67-66=271) 1 stroke Japan Taiga Semikawa
4 5 Nov 2023 Mynavi ABC Championship −24 (63-69-66-66=264) 3 strokes South Africa Shaun Norris

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (2–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2021 Panasonic Open
(as an amateur) 		Japan Ryutaro Nagano Won with par on first extra hole
2 2023 Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Japan Kensei Hirata Lost to birdie on third extra hole
3 2023 ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament Japan Takumi Kanaya Won with birdie on second extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament 2022 2023 2024
Masters Tournament CUT
PGA Championship CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut

Team appearances

Amateur

References

  1. ^ "Week 15 2024 Ending 14 Apr 2024" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  2. ^ "10 Things You Didn't Know About Keita Nakajima". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Why the latest change atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking is genuinely historic". Golf Digest. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Keita Nakajima Becomes the First Two-Time McCormack Medal Recipient". Sportslook. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Keita Nakajima awarded Mark H McCormack Medal as world's leading men's amateur". The R&A. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Teary-eyed Nakajima a tough nut on golf course". Golfing Hub. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Keita Nakajima". OWGR. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Keita Nakajima walk-and-talk at the Sony Open". PGA Tour. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Nakajima tops JGTO money ranking". Japan Golf Tour Organization. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Nakajima Dominates Season-Ending Awards". Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  11. ^ Roberts, Andy (31 March 2024). "Nakajima wins first DP World Tour title then says what fans now come to expect". GolfMagic. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Keita Nakajima". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 18 December 2022.