Paris, France: Japan, with Taiga Semikawa shooting nine-under 63, distanced itself from a tightly packed leaderboard with a 14-under-par 130 total to take a six-stroke lead over Spain in the first round of the 32nd World Amateur Team Championship.
“I know this is the world’s biggest stage, the biggest stage on the planet,” Semikawa said. “I am stunned. I really trust my team-mates. I didn’t feel any stress today. I felt comfortable and that is why I had such a low score.
“I was aggressive, but I stayed with our plan from the practice rounds. I played well at the Japanese Collegiate Amateur before this. But on the back nine, the fans from France cheered for my birdies and that motivated me.”
Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the host nation France share third place, seven strokes behind Japan.
Of the other competing Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation-affiliated countries, Australia and Hong Kong are tied for 11th followed by Singapore (tied 14th), Chinese Taipei (tied 26th), New Zealand and China (tied 29th), India (tied 33rd), Korea and Thailand (tied 36th), Saudi Arabia (tied 48th), Philippines (tied 51st), Pakistan, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (tied 64th), Guam (69th), Lebanon (70th) and Bahrain (71st).
Playing in the afternoon at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, 2022 Japan Amateur Championship winner Kohei Okada shot a five-under 67 with six birdies, while Semikawa, fuelled by a six-under front nine, had 10 birdies to pass the morning wave leaders.
Keita Nakajima, the two-time Mark H McCormack medal winner as the number one player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), shot a non-counting 72. For Nakajima, winner of last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC), the Eisenhower Trophy marks his swansong as an amateur. He will turn professional after this tournament.
Japan’s 14-under 130 broke the record for low first-round score of 131 that was previously held by the United States in 2012. Meanwhile, Semikawa’s outward nine of six-under 30 and nine-under 63 tied Jason Dawes of Australia at Le Golf National in 1994 for the low individual round in the history of the Eisenhower Trophy.
In the individual standings, Semikawa holds a three-stroke lead at the top with team-mate Okada tied for sixth on five-under. Australian Harrison Crowe, Hong Kong’s Alex Yang and Singaporean Ryan Ang are in a share of 12th place on three-under. Among those on two-under are Australian Hayden Hopewell, Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, runner-up to Nakajima at the 2021 AAC, and China’s Ding Wenyi, the US Junior Amateur champion.
Australian Gareth Jones, Japan’s coach and Captain, said: “We have two new boys, first time at this level, so I am extremely pleased with them. They didn’t seem to show many nerves.
“They felt the freedom to play their own golf games. They didn’t have restrictions on them. They all drive the ball a long way and that’s an advantage at St Nom.”
Also at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, Spain’s David Puig shot a six-under 66 and Josele Ballester added a 70.
German Jonas Baumgartner, who plays at Oklahoma State University, notched nine birdies en route to a six-under 65 and team-mate Anton Albers shot one-under 70 at Le Golf National.
France, vying to become the first host country to win since the United States at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1980, posted a four-under 67 from Martin Couvra and a 68 from Julien Sale.
“We were under a lot of pressure today, the first day of championship,” said French Captain Antoine Delon. “I am so happy and proud of my players. But it is going to be a long, long tournament. But we are so happy for the start.”
Austria used the combination of Christoph Bleier (68) and Maximilian Steinlechner (69) for their share of third.
Italy, with Open Championship low amateur Philippo Celli shooting 67 and Marco Florioli shooting 68; Sweden, led by Tobias Johnsson’s 67 and Switzerland, led by Cedric Gugler’s 66, were the other teams in third.
The US and England share ninth place. A pair of three-under 68s by Austin Greaser and Michael Thorbjornsen accounted for the American score and England received the same scores from Sam Bairstow and John Gough.
“I think I was two missed clubs away from a really low one,” said Greaser. “Today, going out early, we had some good conditions, low winds, kind of softer on the greens and we were definitely able to fire at some of those flagsticks more than you typically would.” Greaser, who plays for the University of North Carolina, won the 2022 Western Amateur and was runner-up at the 2021 US Amateur.
