Taiga Semikawa fired a 6-under-par 65 to lead Japan his team to a 36-hole scoring record of 264 and a five-shot lead over Spain after two rounds of the 32nd World Amateur Team Championship at Le Golf National in Paris.
The 21-year-old college student, who holds a World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® of No.18, tied an Eisenhower Trophy record with a first-round 63.
“I think those experiences back in Japan, playing in the national amateur and some of those professional events massively helps my confidence and performance,” said Semikawa. He is currently atop the individual leader at 15-under-par.
WAGR® No. 1 Keita Nakajima added a 69 for Japan’s second-round 134 and their team score of 264 breaks the 36-hole mark of 266, which the USA set in 2012 in Turkey en route to their gold medal.
“The whole thing is three players,” said Gareth Jones, the Japanese captain. “We don’t fuss with who’s on the leaderboard out of the three players. Yesterday, our worst score was even par and today our worst score was 1-under par. They are all playing great, and we know three scores are important. I hope and I know they are enjoying being part of a team this week and they’ll remember this experience for a long time.
Italy, with a 7-under 65 from Filippo Celli and a 3-under 69 from Marco Florioli, jumped out of the pack into second place at 17 under, five strokes behind Japan playing at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, where most of the leaderboard movement occurred.
"It's only the second round, we're only halfway around so the end of the tournament is still very far,” said Celli, who was the low amateur in the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews. “We will try to remain calm and play the best we can in the next two rounds. We'll see how it goes."
France’s Tom Vaillant shot a 7-under 65 and Martin Couvra added a 70 as the host country remained in third, alone this time at 16 under.
The USA, based on a 5-under 67 from Austin Greaser and 4-under from Michael Thorbjornsen moved up five spots to solo fourth at 15 under.
“I limped in,” said Greaser, the 2022 Western Amateur champion, despite his 5-under score. “I was even through the last five holes and there are two par-5s in there. I’m just glad I didn’t have my A-plus stuff and still shot something low.”
Norway climbed eight places into a tie for fifth with Spain at 13 under. Canada and Wales each gained seven spots to tie for seventh with Australia and Germany at 10 under.
ABOUT THE Men's World Amateur Team
In 1958 the United States Golf Association
asked The R&A to join them in sponsoring
a world-wide amateur golf team event to
be played biennially in non-Walker Cup
years. Between 35 and 40 nations were
represented at the first meeting and
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
presented the trophy which bears his
name. The committee of the event was to
be known as the World Amateur Golf
Council and is now the International Golf
Federation. Teams of four players from
each country competed over 72 holes with
the leading three scores from each round
to count. The first competition was held
between 29 nations at St Andrews, with
Australia beating the United States in a
play-off. In 2002 the format changed to
teams of three with the two leading
scores to count.
View Complete Tournament Information