Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Japan’s Keita Nakajima has returned to Dubai this week in search of another career-defining performance.
It was in 2021 that Nakajima won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, beating Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho in a sudden-death play-off.
That success earned Nakajima, then number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, starts in the Masters Tournament and Open Championship in 2022.
He turned professional shortly after and has already enjoyed considerable success on the Japan Tour and the DP World Tour.
This week, Nakajima is lining up in the DP World Tour Championship at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates where he has a final opportunity to earn PGA Tour membership in 2025 via the DP World Tour Top 10.
Now in its second year, the DP World Tour Top 10 offers dual membership for the following PGA Tour season to the top 10 players in the final Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, not otherwise exempt (DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking).
As part of the Strategic Alliance between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, the eligibility pathway was created to offer DP World Tour members direct access to the PGA Tour.
Nakajima enters the week in 47th position. Winner of the Hero Indian Open this season, he needs to finish solo third this week to have a mathematical chance of earning one of 10 PGA Tour cards at stake.
Asia’s best hope, however, lies with Nakajima’s compatriot Rikuya Hoshino, who sits in eighth place in the DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking.
Hoshino won the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters this year and added four other top-10s to put himself in prime position to earn a PGA Tour card. Last month, countryman Kaito Onishi earned his PGA Tour status by finishing in the Top-30 of the Korn Ferry Tour rankings.
