Keita Nakajima is set to return to the ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP as Japan’s most recent DP World Tour winner, when he tees it up amongst an exciting field at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba on April 25-28, 2024.
The former World Number One amateur sealed his first victory in just his 11th start on the DP World Tour when he completed an impressive wire-to-wire victory at the Hero Indian Open last week.
The 23-year-old made it the first-ever DP World Tour season with multiple winners from Japan, joining Commercial Bank Qatar Masters champion Rikuya Hoshino – who will also tee it up at the ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP.
Nakajima spent a record 87 weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking between 2020 and 2022, and also won a number of amateur titles, including the Japanese Amateur and Asia Pacific Amateur Championship in 2021.
That same year, he beat a field full of professionals to win the Japan Golf Tour Organization’s Panasonic Open.
He won three times in Japan in 2023 to top the JGTO’s Order of Merit and confirm his place on the DP World Tour for 2024.
He has now become the fifth Japanese winner on the DP World Tour, with three victories coming in the past two seasons following Ryo Hisatsune’s Open de France success in 2023.
Nakajima will tee it up in the ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP for a second time after finishing tied 12th last season.
He said: “It feels amazing to win in my first year on the DP World Tour and to have the chance to come back to Japan again so soon with another trophy.
I’m looking forward to teeing it up in the ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP again and having the chance to play alongside players from both the DP World Tour and Japan Golf Tour.”
Nakajima currently leads the DP World Tour’s Asian Swing, one of five new ‘Global Swings’ included on the 2024 Race to Dubai, which will be followed by The Back Nine and the season-ending DP World Tour Play-Offs.
Each Swing will have its own individual Swing Rankings (Major Championships do not count towards these).
Each champion of the Swing Rankings will earn US$200,000 from an overall US$1,000,000 bonus pool and will also qualify for each of the events on The Back Nine.
Stars of the DP World Tour and JGTO will compete for a US$2.25 million prize fund at the ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP, which is the penultimate regular event in the Asian Swing.
Last season’s inaugural ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP was the first regular tournament in history to be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the JGTO.
The tournament builds on a partnership between the DP World Tour, PGA TOUR and JGTO that will see the top three players on the JGTO Order of Merit earn membership onto the DP World Tour each season.
The tournament also deepens the DP World Tour’s long-standing relationship with ISPS HANDA, the organisation founded by Japanese philanthropist Dr Haruhisa Handa in the belief that sport has the power to inspire, transform, and unite people and communities across social, racial and socio-economic barriers.
ISPS HANDA has supported events on the DP World Tour International Schedule for almost a decade, including the ISPS HANDA Wales Open (2012-14 and 2020), ISPS HANDA Perth International (2012-14 and 2016), ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf (2013, 2016, 2018), ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth (2017-19), ISPA HANDA Vic Open (2019-20), ISPS HANDA UK Championship (2020), ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management (2021) and ISPS HANDA Championship in Spain (2022).
Find out more about ticket options for the 2024 ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP, including advanced price General Admission and The Front Row, buy now at https://isps-championship.com/jp/
