Taiga Semikawa (Japanese: 蟬川 泰果, born 11 January 2001) is a Japanese professional golfer. He had a very successful amateur career where he won twice on the Japan Golf Tour and became number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Early life and amateur career
Semikawa was born in Hyōgo, Kansai region. He is named after Tiger Woods and started to play golf with plastic clubs at the age of age one. He was educated at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai, same school as Hideki Matsuyama.[1]
In 2021, he won both the Kansai Amateur Championship and Kanto Collegiate Championship, and was runner-up at the Japan Collegiate Championship. In 2022, he again won the Kanto Collegiate Championship, and was 3rd at the Japan Amateur Championship.[2]
He came to national attention at the Kansai Open in April 2022, which he led after rounds of 64 and 67, but collapsed in the final round with a 77. In June, he won the Japan Challenge Tour's Japan Create Challenge in Fukuoka by two strokes with a score of 63 on the final day.[3]
Semikawa represented Japan at the 2022 Eisenhower Trophy at Le Golf National in France where he had the second lowest individual score, a stroke behind Tobias Jonsson of Sweden.[4]
In September 2022 he won the Panasonic Open on the Japan Golf Tour, setting a new amateur record of 61 in round three. Afterwards he ascended to number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, becoming the fourth Japanese to rise to the number one position following Hideki Matsuyama, Takumi Kanaya and Keita Nakajima. In October he won the Japan Open, the first amateur to win since the tournament's inception in 1927, marking his third victory in his last three starts in professional tournaments.[5]
Professional career
Semikawa turned professional after he won the Japan Open in October 2022, and made his professional debut at the Mynavi ABC Championship in his home prefecture of Hyōgo.[6] In December, he represented the winning side in the Hitachi 3Tours Championship.
In 2023, he won the Kansai Open at Izumigaoka Country Club in Osaka, taking revenge for his final round collapse as an amateur the previous year.[3] He made his major debut at the 2023 Open Championship, having earned a start through his Japan Open win.[1]
Amateur wins
- 2021 Kansai Amateur Championship, Kanto Collegiate Championship
- 2022 Kanto Collegiate Championship
Source:[2]
Professional wins (5)
Japan Golf Tour wins (4)
| Legend |
| Japan majors (1) |
| Other Japan Golf Tour (3) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 Sep 2022 | Panasonic Open Golf Championship (as an amateur) |
−22 (71-68-61-66=266) | 1 stroke |  Aguri Iwasaki
|
| 2 | 23 Oct 2022 | Japan Open Golf Championship (as an amateur) |
−10 (64-70-63-73=270) | 2 strokes | Kazuki Higa
|
| 3 | 16 Apr 2023 | Kansai Open Golf Championship | −17 (69-67-64-67=267) | 4 strokes | Takahiro Hataji
|
| 4 | 3 Dec 2023 | Golf Nippon Series JT Cup | −15 (67-64-66-68=265) | 1 stroke | Takumi Kanaya, Keita Nakajima
|
Japan Challenge Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 Jun 2022 | Japan Create Challenge (as an amateur) |
−20 (67-66-63=196) | 2 strokes | Tomofumi Ouchi
|
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | |
| PGA Championship | |
| U.S. Open | |
| The Open Championship | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
Team appearances
Amateur
- Eisenhower Trophy (representing Japan): 2022
Professional
- Hitachi 3Tours Championship (representing JGTO): 2022 (winners)
References
- ^ a b "Taiga Semikawa Bio". The R&A. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Taiga Semikawa". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ a b "蝉川泰果がプロ初優勝 前年大会で悔し涙のリベンジ". Golf Digest (in Japanese). 16 April 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ "WATC 2022 Leaderboard". International Golf Federation. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ Schupak, Adam (23 October 2022). "World No. 1 amateur Taiga Semikawa beats the pros again, this time at Japan Open". Golfweek. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ "Japan Open champion Taiga Semikawa turns pro". The Japan Times. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
External links
- Taiga Semikawa at the Japan Golf Tour official site
- Taiga Semikawa at the PGA Tour official site
- Taiga Semikawa at the Official World Golf Ranking official site