Takumi Kanaya Facts: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The Japanese Golfer

Takumi Kanaya is a Japanese pro golfer who has enjoyed plenty of success in his homeland and is currently having a crack at breaking through on the PGA Tour. Discover more about his life and career so far via these facts.

TAKUMI KANAYA FACTS

1. Kanaya was born in Hiroshima, Japan on May 23, 1998.

2. His name is pronounced 'tuh-KOO-mee kuh-NYE-uh.'

3. According to the Japan Golf Tour, Kanaya's blood type is O.

4. He began playing golf at the age of five.

5. Kanaya attended Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai, Japan - the same school that Hideki Matsuyama went to.

6. He won the 2015 Japan Amateur Championship and was low amateur at the Japan Open Golf Championship later that same year after finishing second. He went on to be the low amateur at the Japan Open Golf Championship again in 2017.

7. In 2018, Kanaya won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and earned spots in the 2019 Masters and Open Championship as a result.

8. Representing Japan at the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy, Kanaya finished runner-up in the individual competition. He had appeared at the 2016 tournament, too, while also being on the winning International side at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup.

9. Kanaya helped Japan to team gold at both the 2017 Summer Universiade and the 2018 Asian Games.

10. Kanaya was World Amateur No.1 for 55 weeks, covering much of 2020, and was awarded the Mark H. McCormack medal in September.

11. He won the 2019 Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters to become just the fourth amateur in history to win a professional event in Japan. Kanaya later finished third at the 2019 Australian Open.

12. He turned professional on October 2, 2020 and made his professional debut at the Japan Open Golf Championship, finishing 7th.

13. Kanaya won on his fourth pro start, lifting the prestigious Dunlop Phoenix Tournament after triumphing at the fourth extra hole of a sudden death play-off.

14. He won the Japan Golf Tour Rookie of the Year award in 2020-21 after securing a second pro title - the Token Homemate Cup - in April.

15. The Japanese pro's best finish on the PGA Tour was a T7th result at the 2021 Zozo Championship. His highest result on the DP World Tour was T7th at the 2022 Australian PGA Championship.

16. Kanaya has claimed eight professional victories throughout his career so far - seven of which have arrived on the Japan Golf Tour. His only non-JGT victory was at the Asian Tour's International Series Oman in 2023.

17. In 2024, Kanaya won the Japan Golf Tour money list and was named the circuit's Most Valuable Player. A year earlier, he had lifted his only Japanese Major to date at the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup.

18. Kanaya secured a PGA Tour card for 2025 when finishing third at Q-School in December 2024.

19. Kanaya has a best finish of T58th in 11 Major starts throughout his career. That arrived in his Masters debut back in 2019. He has missed the cut in each of the other 10.

20. After finishing T9th at the 2022 WGC Dell Technologies Match Play, Kanaya rose to a highest-ever position of 49th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

TAKUMI KANAYA BIO

TAKUMI KANAYA PRO WINS

* won as an amateur