Nakajima stretches lead to two

Newly-crowned JGTO Prize Money King Keita Nakajima has enhanced his chances of becoming only the fifth player in Tour history to surpass £200,000,000 in season earnings.

The overnight leader widened his lead to two shots at the midway point of the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, recording a four-under-par 66 at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club, bringing his total to 11-under 129 on Friday.

Nakajima notched five birdies, with four on the front nine, offsetting a lone bogey, and he now leads Takumi Kanaya and Taiga Semikawa, who are tied for second.

Semikawa, initially tied for seventh, birdied four of his last five holes, posting the day's best 64 to close the gap to two shots behind Nakajima. Kanaya managed a 67, maintaining his overnight position.

Defending champion Hideto Tanihara holds the solo fourth spot after a 66. Just five shots adrift, he aims to exert extra effort to keep his quest for a three-peat alive.

Nakajima appeared content, describing his round as a "successful day," even though he couldn't make further progress on the back nine.

"Executing a solid up-and-down on hole one was a great start for me and that set the tone for a strong round. I had a particularly good rhythm on the front nine," said Nakajima, who has amassed £172,486,179 leading up to this week's season finale.

"Although there were some missed opportunities on the back nine, overall, I consider it a successful day."

Nakajima is eagerly anticipating the ongoing intense competition he likened to a "final day battle" over the weekend, with Semikawa also entering the fray.

"I'm really excited about playing alongside Semikawa and Kanaya tomorrow. Playing with Kanaya has been a lot of fun, and I've already felt the excitement and tension of a final day championship battle, even in these first two days. It's a bit sad to think that it all ends in just two more days," he said.

Seeking to conclude the season with a second victory, Semikawa was pleased with how he rebounded from the setback in the early stages, where he dropped three shots on holes three and four after a bright start with a birdie on the opening hole.

He fired a hat trick of birdies from the sixth hole before picking up another on the 10th. Then, he reeled in four straight birdies from the 14th to cap off a glorious day.

"Despite the bogey and double bogey on three and four, I generally felt positive about my game, so I focused on maintaining my concentration. This approach paid off and led to a good run of birdies on both the front nine and back nine. My putting today was particularly strong," said Semikawa, who turned professional just 12 months ago.

"I believe it's crucial for me to concentrate on my own game without getting distracted by the leaderboard.

"In my view, Nakajima and Kanaya are still a notch above me, so it's vital for me to hang in there and aim to come out on top on Sunday."

Kanaya has pledged to keep pace with Nakajima, whom he acknowledges to be in a class of his own at the moment.

"I concentrated on playing my own game, which I believe really paid off. Nakajima was playing some extraordinary golf, and I feel that it helped elevate my game as well.

"My goal is certainly to finish the year on a high note. I'm hoping to continue focusing on my own game tomorrow and build momentum for the crucial final round."

South Korea's Song Young-han maintained his position as the best non-Japanese competitor in the 30-man standings for the second consecutive day, carding a 69 to be tied with Taichi Nabetani and Hiroshi Iwata on 135.

Leading second-round scores:

129: Keita Nakajima 63-66;

131: Taiga Semikawa 67-64, Takumi Kanaya 64-67;

134: Hideto Tanihara 68-66;

135: Taichi Nabetani 65-70, Hiroshi Iwata 65-70, Song Young-han (Kor) 66-69;

136: Kensei Hirata 68-68;

137: Yuki Inamori 70-67, Ryo Ishikawa 68-69.