Singapore: Six former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winners sprang to the fore over the weekend.
Japan’s Takumi Kanaya and Keita Nakajima, China’s Ding Wenyi and the Australian trio of Curtis Luck, Jasper Stubbs and Harrison Crowe all had cause for satisfaction after impressive performances.
In the Japan Golf Tour’s season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, Kanaya fired a closing a 67 which lifted him into outright third at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club.
In so doing, Kanaya pipped compatriot Kensei Hirata to the money ranking title, atoning for the heartbreak of narrowly missing out on the crown last season.
Kanaya, who triumphed in the AAC in Singapore in 2018, said: “Today’s 18 holes felt like the longest I’ve ever played. My mother came from Hiroshima to support me, along with many fans. I’m really grateful for their support.
“I’m so happy I managed to do something which I could not do last year and that is to win the money ranking title this year.”
Nakajima, who savoured AAC success in Dubai in 2021, led the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup heading into the final round but struggled to a last-day 73 to finish alone in fourth place.
At the ISPS Handa Australian Open, Luck, Stubbs, Crowe and Ding all contended and finished among the top-five and ties.
Luck, victorious in the AAC in 2014, placed second at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club, three strokes behind American Ryggs Johnston, the surprise winner.
As well as collecting a cheque for €124,141.41, Luck has qualified for the 153rd Open Championship, to be held at Royal Portrush in July, 2025.
It will be his maiden appearance in the year’s final Major and his second in a Major, having gained entry to the Masters Tournament in 2017, courtesy of his AAC success. He finished tied 46th at Augusta National.
One shot back in a share of third place was Stubbs, who defeated Ding in a play-off in the 2023 AAC at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Stubbs turned pro after an unsuccessful AAC title defence at Gotemba Golf Club in Japan in October.
He played in the Masters and Open Championship last year as an amateur. But his hopes of returning to The Open next year via the Kingston Heath event were cruelly denied after he finished tied third with Marc Leishman.
A lowly 1,486th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Stubbs lost out to Leishman on a countback for the third and final slot on offer for Royal Portrush. Leishman is 575th in the OWGR.
Among six players tied for fifth on 275 were Crowe, 2022 AAC winner in Thailand, and Ding, who turned pro after winning this year’s AAC.
