Japanese boys, Korean girls triumph at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup

African representatives South Africa and Kenya finished fifth and twelfth, respectively, in the boys' category as the 32nd edition of the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup ended in Japan on Friday.

The South African girls finished 9th, while the Japanese boys defended their title in a tightly contested championship decided in a playoff. The Korean girls held on to win their first World Cup championship.

Taisei Nagasaki had hoped to get through Friday's final hole at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup free of any drama. Instead, he'll be remembered as the centerpiece of the most unusual result in the event's 32-year history. Nagasaki's finishing bogey dropped Japan's boys into a three-way tie atop the team leaderboard—triggering a tiebreaker of non-counting scores to settle the deadlock with Canada and the United States. Once those scores were factored in, the hosts came away with the trophy—their second consecutive triumph and third in the past four years. "All three of our players are very strong. We all contributed to the team," said Nagasaki, also a member of last year's winning threesome. "I am very proud to be part of this team."

Friday's neck-and-neck-and-neck battle at a rain-soaked Chukyo Golf Club was tight from start to finish, with all three teams taking turns surging to the front and falling back. Each completed 72 holes at 22-under par. "That was pretty crazy," exclaimed Canada's Austin Krahn. Said Team USA's Drew Woolworth: "Obviously I'd like to have a couple holes back out there, but I'm sure everybody does."

The Japanese boys and their officials pose with their trophy after the championship. Courtesy photo

The girls' division was less turbulent but still impactful as Korea pulled away over the back nine to claim one of the few titles their program had yet to win. Tightly bunched with Japan and defending champion Thailand, the Koreans built momentum after the turn for a six-shot triumph. "I was so nervous, I couldn't eat anything during my round," said Seojin Park, whose four consecutive birdies on the back nine provided the springboard. "When I finished and saw the results, I was so happy and proud of our team."

Japan's Anna Iwanaga rewrote the scoring record in winning medalist honours, using a closing 3-under-par 69 to end her week at 18-under 270. That was three shots better than the previous four-round best by a girl, set three years ago by Japan's Yuna Araki. "I'm happy with the result," said Iwanaga, who admitted she'd set a goal of reaching 20-under. "It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough."

Colombia's Tomas Restrepo also carved a place in history by winning boys' individual honours for a second consecutive year. A two-shot triumph over South Africa's Roelof Craig made Restrepo just the fourth boy in the tournament's 32-year history to repeat as medalist. "The highlight of my career," he said. "Conditions this year were very tough, and there were so many others having a chance coming to the last day. I'll put this one on top, for sure."

Friday's conquests came amid a second day of unrelenting rain, as Japan began to deal with the effects of a typhoon forming in the Pacific Ocean. Whereas Round 3 was played in a constant drizzle, Friday was far wetter. "The golf course held up very well," said Woolworth. "I thought it was going to be underwater by the fourth hole, but we wound up getting 18 holes in." A washout would have denied everyone the tension of Friday's back nine, as Japan, Canada, and Team USA all swapped positions seemingly with every new report from the course. Thailand even got into it at the end, though eventually they came up one stroke short of a four-way tie.

"I had no idea where we were coming in," said Krahn, who carded a 2-under 69 from Canada's leadoff position. "I had good vibes from our coach, so I thought we were doing pretty well. But I didn't really know for sure." Though Japan took a two-shot lead into the final day, each of their golfers found themselves spinning their wheels. Nagasaki finally got some traction with a birdie at No. 16, which pushed them back to the top spot. Standing on the 18th tee, he was informed Japan held a one-shot lead and was in line to win the tiebreak even with a bogey.

"I tried to play safe on the last hole," Nagasaki said. But he had a little too much adrenaline in his approach, watching his ball fly past the flagstick and into a nearby pond. "All of a sudden, it got me so nervous," Nagasaki said. "At that moment, I knew I had to make up my mind not to lose it. But this week I'd been playing well with my wedges around the green. It's one of my strengths, and I was pretty confident." After taking his penalty drop, Nagasaki's chip came to rest 4 feet from the hole. "I have kind of a personal mantra for myself, to stay cool," he said. "And it worked."

When the non-counting scores were added, Japan's came to 6-under par for the week. Canada was 1-over, with Team USA at 5-over. "We know we can count on each other (to pick things up)," said Kotaro Ogawa, who shot 71 Friday. For the U.S. boys, it marked the second time in three years that they finished runner-up after tying for the low score. Korea emerged with the 2024 trophy after a tiebreaker that involved only the non-counting score from the final day. Though the format was changed afterwards, it brought no better result the second time around. With Thailand's girls sharing runner-up honours Friday, it continued a remarkable run since their debut two years ago. In three editions of the Junior Golf World Cup, they've finished second, first, and second.
 

BOYS TEAM STANDINGS

1.   *Japan                  134-131-140-141=546 (-22)
t2.  Canada                 136-132-139-139=546 (-22)
t2.  United States       139-130-138-139=546 (-22)
4.   Thailand               134-134-145-134=547 (-21)
5.   South Africa         135-143-134-137=549 (-19)
6.   Australia               138-136-139-137=550 (-18)
t7.  France                  139-132-143-143=557 (-11)
t7.  Colombia             139-140-135-143=557 (-11)

Japan won the championship in a tiebreaker

GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS

1.  Korea                    134-137-139-135=545 (-31)

t2. Thailand               142-132-138-139=551 (-25)

t2. Japan                    137-136-142-136=551 (-25)
4.  United States       139-144-139-143=565 (-11)

5.  Australia               145-135-143-143=566 (-10)

6.  Colombia             136-140-146-146=568 (-8)

7.  Canada                 140-141-144-147=572 (-4)

8.  Spain                    138-144-152-141=575 (-1)

9.  South Africa         144-139-148-148=579 (+3)