3 players placed their names on the top of the leaderboard with 4 under after Round 1 at the 60th anniversary tournament of The Crowns. Peter Karmis, a light hearted 38 years old originally from South African nationality but has changed to Greece because he wanted to be the representative for the World Cup Golf. Another is Akio Sadakata who just turned 40 years old on April 24 th. Last of the 3 is Katsumasa Miyamoto, one of the veteran golfers in the Japan Tour.

On May 1, Japan's era has changed from Heisei to Reiwa. Celebration atmosphere surrounds all over Japan. At these cheerful moments, Katsumasa is really good to get on the mood.
"Every TV channel, every newspaper, the headline is Reiwa Era. I thought if I did well today, I could become first player of Reiwa to catch the headline. So, I went for it!"

The clubhouse leader was Akio Sadakata with 4 under. With that target set, 46 years old aimed seriously for it.
"If I could make it to 4 under, I'll be on the headline too!"

Strong wind was harming everybody's play from early in the morning.
"My putting was great, so I was able to make my game plan easily."

Katsumasa is also goo with taking in new items. He chose to put 39-inch putter in his bag from the final round at Token.
"I heard that it's making a fuss at PGA Tour. I do still have little awkwardness on the long putts, but I was able to get use to it day by day. Today I got away with easy 2 putts which took away all of the stress."

He also suddenly changed his ball on the Reiwa Era's first tournament day. It was the ball that Tiger was using when he won at the Masters.
"It felt like it was on different level. It really struck me. I heard that they are running out of stock soon, so I started to use them ASAP."

Katsumasa has been going through lots of trail and error, and today it all worked out.
"Marking 4 under at Wago really gives me confidence, and it motivate me to do better."
He missed securing his seed last season, sinking down on the money rankings. Now he is ready to get back and has made a great start to do so.