Keita Nakajima

His family plays golf, and Keita started playing when he was around 6 years old. Watching Tiger Woods on TV helped cement his passion for golf, even though his biggest idol is Hideki Matsuyama. Nakajima credits Hideki as a big hero, but he also credits Takumi Kanaya as a big factor in his success, having been part of the Japan National Team system under Australian coach Gareth Jones.
Going into the 2021 Asia Pacific Amateur, Nakajima had a brilliant amateur career, winning the 2021 Japan Amateur. He also played in the U.S. Amateur but didn't make it to match play in 2021. In the last year, he has taken on more of a pro-heavy schedule playing on the Japan Golf Tour. In 2020 he played in three events and was 3rd at the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Talheiyo Masters, two shots back of winner Jinichiro Kozuma. In 2021 he played nine times and topped his year with his victory in the 2021 Panasonic Open on the Japan Golf Tour.
Nakajima made his PGA Tour debut at the Zozo Championship in 2021, won by his idol Matsuyama. He finished T-28th.
He entered the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship as the number one player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The event was played at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club in Dubai, and Nakajima was playing the event for the fourth time. He was T-17th in 2017, T-2nd in 2018, and T-18th in 2019. The 2020 event wasn't played due to COVID-19.
Nakajima dominated with rounds of 67-68-67, and even with his final round 68, Hong Kong's Taichi Kho caught him with a 65. On the second hole of the playoff, Kho found water with his second shot, and Nakajima rolled in a birdie from 20 feet for the victory.
Nakajima is the third player from Japan to win the event after Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya. With his win, Nakajima received an invitation to the Masters and made his dream of playing a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club with the reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama come true and an exemption into The 150th Open Championship at St Andrews. Nakajima also has an exemption into the U.S. Open thanks to winning the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No.1 men's amateur in 2021.
2022 Notes: As an amateur played three times on the Japan Golf Tour, T-7th at the Crowns, T-32nd at the Asia Pacific Open Diamond Cup Golf, and T-11th at the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship. He missed the cut at the Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship. On September 12th, Nakajima announced that he was turning pro. At the time, he was the top-ranked amateur in the game, a spot he held for a record 87 weeks going back to 2020. He made his professional debut at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship, finishing T-48th. He made his first professional start on the PGA Tour at the Zozo Championship, finishing T-12th. He played in seven Japan Golf Tour events as a professional, T-8th at the Casion World Open and T-5th at the Heiwa PGM Championship. He earned yen14,821,142 ($105,763) and was 59th on the money list.
2023 Notes: He started his year playing in three PGA Tour events, T-54th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, missing the Farmers Insurance and Genesis Invitational cut. He then went back to play on the Japan Golf Tour. In his seventh Japan Tour event won the ASO Ilzuka Challenged Golf Tournament beating Takumi Kanaya on the second hole of a playoff with a birdie after overcoming a three-shot deficit at the start of the final round. He was runner-up three times. At the Gateway to the Open Mizuno Open, Kensei Hirata best Nakajima with a birdie on the third extra playoff hole. Despite the loss, Nakajima got one of the four spots for the Open Championship at Hoylake, his second Open appearance. The next week was T-2nd a the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship, two shots back of winner Takumi Kanaya. Two weeks later was runner-up at the Hana Bank Invitational, one shot back of winner Jiho Yang. The week after was T-3rd at the Japan Players Championship, two shots back of winner Hideto Tanihara.

2023 Japan Tour Record
Tournament Place Score To Par 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Money Yen
Token Homemate Cup T-8 270 -14 69 70 65 66 $26,253 Yen3,679,000
Kansai Open 9 275 -9 69 69 69 68 $16,099 Yen2,256,000
ISPS Handa Championship T-12 271 -9 65 69 72 65 $30,894 Yen4,329,333
The Crowns T-21 277 -3 68 70 69 70 $8,069 Yen1,130,800
Gateway To The Open Mizuno 2 271 -17 67 66 70 68 $57,087 Yen8,000,000
BMW Japan Golf Championship T-2 275 -9 67 70 68 70 $68,505 Yen9,600,000
ASO Ilzuka Challenged Win 259 -29 67 64 63 65 $142,719 Yen20,000,000
Hana Bank Invitational 2 273 -19 68 67 69 69 $65,391 Yen9,163,636
Japan Players Championship T-3 266 -22 68 63 65 70 $18,553 Yen2,600,000
Shigeo Nagashima Invit. T-18 275 -13 71 68 69 67 $14,771 Yen2,070,000

Nakajima has won yen62,828,769 ($448,341) on the Japan Golf Tour in 2023 and is 1st on the money list.