Nakajima wins second Mark H McCormack Medal as top-ranked male amateur

Japanese amateur Keita Nakajima has been awarded the Mark H McCormack Medal as the leading men’s player in the 2022 World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Nakajima, who has been number one in the ranking for a record 83 weeks, including 70 consecutively, is the first male player to receive the McCormack Medal twice after also winning in 2021. He is the third player from Japan to win the title, joining Hideki Matsuyama (2010, 2011) and Kanaya (2018) on the list of champions.

The 22-year-old, who competed in The Open and this year’s Masters and US Open, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last November. Competing as an amateur, he finished 41st in the PGA Tour’s 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii and was tied 28th in last year’s ZOZO Championship.

“It is a great honour to receive the McCormack Medal again,” said Nakajima. “The excitement I felt when I saw the medal in Dubai last year is still fresh in my memory. Seeing it again in Paris at the World Amateur Team Championships will be really wonderful.”

He continued: “I appreciate the opportunities I have been given thanks to the medal. I hope I have created a pathway for not only Japanese players but all Asia-Pacific players to pursue the dream they have.”

Nakajima will receive exemptions into next year’s 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool and the 2023 US Open, which is being held at The Country Club, Brookline.

America’s Sam Bennett finished second in the 2022 Men’s World Amateur rankings, with Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg in third. The highest ranked English player was Sam Bairstow, with the 23-year-old left-hander from Sheffield finishing 9th in the rankings.