Birthday boy Vincent charges into contention

Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent turned 30 in style, carding a six-under-par 64 to charge into contention by moving within five shots of the lead at the Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament on Friday.

Vincent did not have the best of starts as he conceded a bogey as early as the second hole on the Toride Kokusai Golf Club's East Course. 

But backed by the good memories at the venue that saw him finish joint runner-up last year, it did not take long for Vincent to launch a remarkable comeback.

He birdied five of the seven-hole stretch starting from the seventh before finishing with a flourish at the last to tie for fourth and five shots off the pace on 11-under 129.

"It was always nice to end the round with a birdie, and it helped to sum up a good day, I'm very happy," said Vincent, who represented his country at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

Vincent was delighted to see that his game is shaping up nicely following a difficult start last week.

He missed the cut on his first JGTO appearance of the season at the Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup.

"It's been awesome. I have some good memories from here, so nice to start the way that I have done these past two days," said Vincent.

"But you constantly try to build the game and get better and prepare for something in the future. I like the way it's trending.

"Today, I played some really good golf, much better than yesterday. I'm so excited for tomorrow and cherished the opportunity to play with Yuta (Ikeda), who shot 59 yesterday.

I've never seen anyone shoot 59, so that was amazing.

"Everything's been really good. I'm happy to spend my birthday like this."

The solid start will surely whet Vincent's appetite to get himself a perfect birthday gift with a third JGTO title this week.

Last year, he enjoyed a breakthrough season, winning two titles at the ANA Open and Sansan KBC Augusta.

Asked how he's going to celebrate his birthday, he quipped: "I think I'm going to have a nice dinner, a steak dinner. That will be how I end the day, a little bit of practice but not too much and just enjoy the experience."

Thailand's Gunn Charoenkul kept himself close to the leaders in joint sixth placing following successive 65s, while veteran duo Brendan Jones (63) of Australia and Kyungtae Kim (67) and Filipino Justin De Los Santos (67) were the other international stars to have made their presence felt in tied 18th.