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NEW DELHI — Japan’s Keita Nakajima chose to focus on the DP World Tour rather than the more compact American circuit, and that decision paid off Sunday as he won the Hero Indian Open with a 1-over 73. .
Nakajima started the final round at DLF Golf & Country Club with a two-shot lead, making four birdies in the first eight holes. This extended his lead to nine strokes and all he had to do was finish. He shot 40 on the back nine and still won by four shots, earning his first European Tour title.
“This win definitely gave me a lot of confidence, and I hope to translate what I did this week into more wins in the future,” Nakajima said.
Nakajima, who has held the No. 1 spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings for 87 weeks more than anyone else, won for the fourth time in the past 10 months. The other three were on the Japan Golf Tour last year, and he was able to earn the Order of Merit.
By finishing No. 1 in Japan, the 23-year-old Nakajima earned a European Tour card and a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour, which feeds into the PGA Tour. The win places him 13th in the Race to Dubai and moves him into ninth place among players who do not yet have PGA Tour status.
At the end of the season, the top 10 players will earn a PGA Tour card.
India’s Vir Ahlawat (71), Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg (67) and American Johannes Wiermann (67) tied for second place.
With Nakajima’s start, no one had a chance to win, and his only frustration was the way it ended. He hit a double bogey on the 14th hole, but bounced back with a birdie and closed it out with three consecutive bogeys.
Nakajima finished with 17 under par and 271.
“There were a lot of holes in the back that were tough, and I was frustrated because my play ended with three consecutive bogeys and, of course, a double bogey,” Nakajima said. “But fortunately, I can credit the few shots in the bank to my strong play on the front nine and early rounds this week, so overall I’m very proud of my performance. I am.”
Nakajima became the third Japanese player to win on the European Tour in the past seven months. Rikuya Hoshino won the Qatar Masters in February, and Ryo Hisatsune won the French Open last September, helping them earn one of the 10 cards on the PGA Tour.
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