Tokyo, Japan: Keita Nakajima has seamlessly picked up the baton from his friend and rival Takumi Kanaya.

On Sunday, former World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) number one Kanaya posted his maiden win as a professional in the Dunlop Phoenix Open on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

Less than 72 hours later, Nakajima was confirmed as the WAGR’s new number one following an eighth-place finish behind Kanaya at the Phoenix Country Club in Miyazaki.

Thanks to that effort, Nakajima, who turned 20 in June, has moved up two places in the WAGR, replacing Chinese Taipei’s Yu Chun-an at the top of the world order. Yu drops to world number two.

A sophomore at Nippon Sport Science University, Nakajima is just the third Japanese player to hold the distinction of being men’s world number one, following in the footsteps of Hideki Matsuyama and Kanaya, both ex-Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) 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 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 JGTO 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.

But his bid to become only the fifth amateur to win on the JGTO fell narrowly short, ending the tournament in third place, two shots behind the victorious Jinichiro Kozuma. Nonetheless, 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.