Sato off to a promising start in New Zealand

Taihei Sato made a strong start at the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport, carding a bogey-free four-under-par 67 to tie for 18th and sit just three shots back of co-leaders Matthew Griffin and Scott Hend.

The 30-year-old Sato, who finished a career-best 16th in the JGTO Money Rankings last year, made four birdies on the Millbrook Golf Resort’s Remarkables course on Thursday to emerge as the leading Japanese competitor in the 156-man field, one shot better than Yuta Sugiura, who had 68 on the Coronet course.

Reigning Japan Amateur champion Rintaro Nakano, who secured a start this week by winning the Monday qualifier, also began brightly by signing for a 69 on the Coronet course, tying for 51st with a host of his senior compatriots, including Tomoharu Otsuki, Kensei Hirata, Ryosuke Kinoshita, Hiroshi Iwata, Naoki Sekito, Shunya Takeyasu and Takahiro Hataji.

Two courses are being used this week – the Remarkables and Coronet Courses – in an event that also includes a Pro-Am component.

It appears that the Remarkables was the "easier" course to tackle, with 10 out of the top-17 finishers playing their first round there.

No one took better advantage of the ideal scoring conditions on the Remarkables course than the Australian duo of Griffin and Hend.

Griffin, a regular JGTO member, fired eight birdies against a lone bogey on his way to a 64.

His effort was matched by Hend, who left it late to blaze the course with seven birdies, all coming in the last 12 holes of the day.

Defending champion Brendan Jones, a 15-time winner on the JGTO, opened his campaign with a 69 (Coronet).

The 103rd edition of the iconic event is jointly sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tour, in partnership with the JGTO.

A total of 19 spots have been allocated for JGTO members.

However, the money won from the event will not count towards the JGTO Money Rankings this year.