Takumi Kanaya

Takumi Kanaya is a Japanese professional golfer. He had an exceptionally successful amateur career and was world ranked number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 55 weeks. He also won a professional event on the 2019 Japan Golf Tour while still an amateur.

Amateur career

Kanaya had a successful amateur career, winning the 2015 Japan Amateur Championship and the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. The latter gave him entry to the Masters and the Open Championship in 2019. He played in a number of representative matches, including the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy where he had the second best individual score. Kanaya won team gold medals at the 2017 Summer Universiade and at the 2018 Asian Games. He was world ranked number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 55 weeks, winning the Mark H. McCormack Medal for 2020.
While still an amateur, Kanaya played in a number of professional tournaments. He was the runner-up in the 2017 Japan Open Golf Championship, a stroke behind Yuta Ikeda. He won the 2019 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Golf Tour and finished tied for 3rd place in the 2019 Emirates Australian Open.

Kanaya turned professional in October 2020 and made his professional debut at the Japan Open Golf Championship, finishing in 7th place.
In November 2020, Kanaya won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament. This was his second win in a professional tournament but his first since turning pro. The Dunlop Phoenix is regarded as one of the premier tournaments in Japan. The win moved him to 126th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
In 2024, Kanaya won the Token Homemate Cup and the ACN Championship on the Japan Golf Tour, claiming the season-long money list title, as well as being awarded the Most Valuable Player. After the conclusion of the 2024 Japan Golf Tour season, in December, Kanaya finished third at the PGA Tour Qualifying School, earning a PGA Tour card for 2025.