Rose Zhang of the United States has won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading women’s player in the 2022 World Amateur Golf Ranking.
This is Zhang’s third consecutive McCormack Medal, emulating previous three-time medallists Leona Maguire and Lydia Ko. It is her 101st consecutive week at number one, leaving her behind only Maguire at 135 weeks and Ko at 130 in the overall record.
Meanwhile, Keita Nakajima of Japan is the recipient of the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading men’s player in the 2022 World Amateur Golf Ranking. The McCormack Medal winner receives exemptions into the 151st Open and the U.S. Open in 2023.
Zhang enjoyed another year of outstanding golf, winning her first three collegiate starts in her freshman year at Stanford: the Molly Collegiate Invitational, the Windy City Collegiate Classic and the Stanford Intercollegiate. She became the first Stanford player – male or female – to win her first three collegiate starts and did not finish out of the top 10 in her first seven starts.
After securing a tied-12th finish at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, Zhang went on to win the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship by three shots. On the day of her 19th birthday, she received the Annika Award for best women’s college golfer of the year. She then clinched Stanford’s second NCAA team title by winning the final match.
Zhang, 19, played a leading role in the American team’s victory over Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup at Merion, winning two of her four matches.
Zhang also performed well in her major-championship appearances, winning the Smyth Salver as the leading amateur at the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, finishing tied 40th in the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica and tied for 65th at the Amundi Evian Championship.
“My amateur career continues to be incredibly rewarding and humbling,” Zhang said. “To be named the McCormack Medal recipient for the third time is a testament to the work I’ve put in and the support of those around me. This caps an incredible year and motivates me even further for the season ahead.”
Nakajima, who has been the number one player in the WAGR for a record 83 weeks, including 70 consecutively, is the first male player to receive the McCormack Medal twice. He also earned the honour last year. Nakajima, 22, and Takumi Kanaya, the 2020 winner, are the only Japanese players to secure the honour.
Nakajima, who competed in the Open and this year’s Masters Tournament and U.S. Open, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last November when he converted a 20-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. He is the third player from Japan to win the title, joining Hideki Matsuyama (2010, 2011) and Kanaya (2018) on the list of champions.
“It is a great honour to receive the McCormack Medal again,” Nakajima said. “The excitement I felt when I saw the medal in Dubai last year is still fresh in my memory. Seeing it again in Paris (at the recent World Amateur Team Championships) will be really wonderful.
“I appreciate the opportunities I have been given thanks to the medal. I hope I have created a pathway for not only Japanese players but all Asia-Pacific players to pursue the dream they have.”
Nakajima finished 41st in the PGA Tour’s 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii at 10-under-par 270 and was tied 28th in last year’s Zozo Championship. In 2021, he won the Japan Golf Tour’s Panasonic Open and captured the Japan Amateur Championship by three strokes, which included a second-round 63.
The R&A and the USGA jointly award the McCormack Medal annually. It is named after Mark H. McCormack, who founded sports marketing company IMG and was a great supporter of amateur golf.
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