Yuta Ikeda made good opening start with 6 under par on Round 1. As he stated, "good start is the key", he was man of his words, and made a chip in on his first hole 10th.

He was at 2 under when he had trouble on the 14th. His tee shot went way right, all the way to the 13th hole tee ground. He aimed the 2nd shot to go underneath the tree, which couldn't reach the green and got stuck in the roughs. But he got it up to 1.5 meters and saved Par.

This bounce back got Yuta on momentum and he made 3 straight birdies right after. Especially on the Par 3 16th, he almost holed it, and Yuta took a glance at the "Hole-in-one prize board" to check the prize money.

Yuta says his training during the off season went well, and his body is really fit. He also got himself a great "partner" wedge, which he selected to add day before yesterday, which helped him gain 6 under par game.

Yuta has been concentrating on International Tours for past 3 years, so this was his first appearance on the seasonal opening event in 3 years. He really got pumped up with the words given by the Chairman Isao Aoki, at the Opening Ceremony, when he said, "this will be the Heisei Era's last winner".
Yuta really felt the preciousness of that "title", and he has set his target to grab that "Heisei's last winner" title.