Keita Nakajima secured his second JGTO title in six starts when he overcame a two-shot deficit in the rain-affected final round to become the first-ever winner of the Yokohama Minato Championship – Fujiki Centennial on Sunday.
The 23-year-old dazzled with a five-under-par 66, which included six birdies and a single bogey, to finish his campaign on 13-under-par 271 at the Yokohama Country Club in Kanagawa.
Nakajima beat his nearest competitor, Taiga Semikawa, who also carded a 66, by one stroke.
This marked Nakajima’s third JGTO victory of his career, with two amassed within less than a year after he turned professional in October last year.
It was just two months ago when he won the ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament. Nakajima celebrated his first triumph at the 2021 Panasonic Open, at the time still an amateur.
Starting the final day two shots behind Yuki Inamori in second place, Nakajima made his move early by birdieing the first hole to tie for the lead with the latter, who bogeyed.
Nakajima then set up a birdie opportunity on the second just before the rain halted the play for three hours and 22 minutes.
Upon returning to the course, Nakajima duly converted the putt to gain his second shot of the day. Despite dropping a bogey on the par-four fifth for his only blemish of the day, he recovered superbly to birdie the sixth, eighth, ninth and 13th to move three shots clear at one stage.
Semikawa tried to stage a late charge when he birdied three of his last five holes but still ended up one shot shy.
“This course is tricky, and the lead doesn’t mean much. I can’tcontrol the scores around me. I focused on playing well,” said Nakajima.
“Winning against a truly competitive player like Semikawa gives me confidence.”
Nakajima also expressed gratitude to the many fans who stayed until the end despite the heavy rain.
“Thank you very much for staying until the end in the heavy rain today. I will continue to grow as an athlete so that I can become an inspiration for the kids who came today,” he vowed.
The victory allowed Nakajima to overtake Takumi Kanaya, who’s absent this week, in the first place on the JGTO money list.
“I will strive to play good golf in the coming summer and autumn and aim for more victories,” he said.
While Sunday proved to be a day of delight for Nakajima, Inamori, the leader for the first three rounds, was left disappointed and frustrated.
He struggled to shoot a 72 when it mattered most to settle for a share of fifth place on nine-under-par 275.
Inamori admitted that the weather delay did affect him in some ways.
“Everything went wrong for me today. (The rain) It did (affect me), to some extent. I had to regain my composure, which was quite challenging,” he lamented.
“Not only the wind, but the rain made the course wet. As a result, tee shots didn’t land as far, which became advantageous for the big hitters. I was desperately trying to keep up.”
Taisei Shimizu shot the lowest round of the day – a 65 – to finish lone third on 273 while Ryutaro Nagano signed for 69 to come in a further shot back in fourth.
South Korea’s Lee Sang-hee was the highest-placed international finisher in tied fifth after closing 68.
Leading final round scores:
271: Keita Nakajima 69-69-67-66;
272: Taiga Semikawa 71-67-68-66;
273: Taisei Shimizu 73-61-74-65;
274: Ryutaro Nagano 72-66-67-69;
275: Lee Sang-hee (Kor) 68-70-69-68, Taihei Sato 70-70-66-69, Kosuke Suzuki 69-67-70-69, Yuki Inamori 65-67-71-72;
276: Dylan Perry (Aus) 69-69-70-68, Naoyuki Kaneda 69-70-68-69;
277: Takashi Ogiso 69-73-70-65, Taichi Kimura 70-69-70-68.
