Faldo Praise for New World Amateur Golf Ranking Number One

Tokyo, Japan (November 28): Keita Nakajima, a former Faldo Series Japan Championship winner and Faldo Series Asia Grand Final participant, has soared to number one in The R&A’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

Nakajima’s ascension to the summit after finishing joint eighth in the Japan Tour’s Dunlop Phoenix Open last weekend did not come as a surprise to Sir Nick Faldo, who has followed the Japanese prodigy’s progress in recent years.

As a precocious 16-year-old, Nakajima fired a closing four-under-par 68 at Shizu Hills Country Club to claim victory in the 2016-17 Faldo Series Japan Championship.

“Even then, Keita had a big reputation and was being touted as the next Ryo Ishikawa or Hideki Matsuyama,” said Sir Nick, who met with Nakajima at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in 2017 at Laguna Lăng Cô in Danang, Central Vietnam.

“Since then, I’ve kept an eye on Keita’s progress. As well as challenging consistently in top amateur events, he’s been impressive also when playing alongside professionals. So, it’s no surprise to see him reach number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

“I look forward to seeing his next steps and have no doubt he is destined for a successful career in the ranks of the professionals.”

A sophomore at Nippon Sport Science University, Nakajima, who turned 20 in June, is just the third Japanese player to hold the distinction of being men’s world number one, following in the footsteps of Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya, both ex-Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship winners.

Nakajima and Kanaya were members of the four-strong gold medal-winning Japan men’s team at the 2018 Asian Games at Jakarta’s Pondok Indah Golf Course. There, it was Nakajima who stole the headlines, upstaging Kanaya by also claiming the individual gold medal.

Two months later the tables were turned when Kanaya savoured success in the 10th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club, two strokes ahead of Nakajima, who shared second place with Indian Rayhan Thomas.

Among other notable performances in 2019, Nakajima was runner-up in the Japan Open Amateur Championship and the Australian Master of the Amateurs, where he was edged out by Chinese Taipei’s Yu Chun-an in a play-off at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nakajima’s competitive appearances in 2020 have been limited, although he enjoyed a good run of form ahead of the Dunlop Phoenix.

At last month’s Japan Open Championship he finished joint 18th, and a fortnight ago he was contending at the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters, where he was tied for the lead during the final round. Although his bid to become only the fifth amateur to win on the Japan Tour fell narrowly short, ending the tournament in third place, two shots behind the victorious Jinichiro Kozuma, that performance enabled him to soar 12 places to third in the WAGR – and set himself up for taking the final leap at the Dunlop Phoenix.