De Los Santos sets early pace with opening 63

Justin De Los Santos delivered a magnificent nine-under-par 63 on Thursday, establishing a two-shot lead in the opening round of the inaugural ACN Championship Golf Tournament and underlining his relentless pursuit of a JGTO breakthrough.

The 28-year-old Filipino capitalised on three of the four par-fives on the Japan Course at the Sanko Golf Club. He gained four shots from these holes, which included an eagle on number seven, setting his campaign off on an impressive note.

Starting his round from the 10th tee, De Los Santos showcased top form immediately, carding birdies five times for an outward nine of five-under 31.

His streak of birdies extended into the first hole but faced a brief hiccup with a bogey on the par-three third. However, this minor setback didn't deter him as he swiftly recovered the dropped shot on the very next hole.

After the spectacular eagle on seven, De Los Santos rounded off his day in spectacular style, chalking up his eighth birdie on the final hole to ensure he matched his career-best 18-hole score.

"It was an absolutely perfect day. Everything went well, but my putting was particularly good," said De Los Santos, who had three top-10 finishes this season.

"I think it'd be good if I could score in the 60s, so I want to work towards that. Of course, I'd like to get another 9-under, but it's not that easy. So I really want to consistently score in the 60s.

"I'll need to stick to my game plan."

Of the eight birdies he secured, De Los Santos said the one on the fourth hole pleased him the most.

"Definitely the fourth hole. My drive went far left, but I managed a good recovery with an 8-iron shot that hooked close to the pin," he explained.

Hirotaro Naito was alone in second place after carding a bogey-free 65, one ahead of Yusaku Hosono, Tomohiro Kondo and Ryu Hyun-woo of South Korea.

South Africa's Shaun Norris, Australia's Andrew Evans and American Shintaro Ban were among a group of seven players bunched on 67.

Leading first round scores:

63: Justin De Los Santos;

66: Hirotaro Naito;

66: Yusaku Hosono, Tomohiro Kondo, Ryu Hyun-woo (Kor);

67: Andrew Evans (Aus), Shota Matsumoto, Ryo Katsumata, Ren Yonezawa, Shaun Norris (Rsa), Yuta Ikeda, Shintaro Ban (US).