The Japanese trio set the early pace

Taisei Shimizu, Tomoyo Ikemura, and Taiki Yoshida fired matching five-under-par 65s, placing them in a four-way tie for the first-round clubhouse lead at the ISPS Handa Championship on Thursday.

The Japanese trio set the early pace alongside Germany's Yannik Paul at the picturesque Taiheiyo Club's Gotemba Course in Shizuoka. Compatriot Taiga Nagano is five-under through 11 holes before play was suspended due to darkness at 6.26pm (local time).

The first round of the tournament, originally scheduled to start at 6:20 am local time, was pushed back to 9:10 am due to thick fog.

Reigning Prize Money King Keita Nakajima also made a promising start with an opening 66 for provisional joint fifth alongside compatriots Ryosuke Kinoshita and Yuki Inamori, ensuring a strong presence from the JGTO in the second edition of the tournament jointly sanctioned by the DP World Tour.

Shimizu, taking advantage of an early tee time, fired an impressive blemish-free round that was highlighted by five birdies.

He will aim to maintain the solid momentum from his commendable tied fourth outing at the season-opening Token Homemate Cup. 

"My ball-striking has been solid, so I just need to maintain my current approach. If I can do that, I'll have a good chance of staying in contention," said Shimizu.

"I don't know how many holes I'll play tomorrow, but if I play well, I think I can have an enjoyable weekend, so I'll do my best without thinking too much about it."

Nakajima, playing in front of his home fans for the first time this season, certainly lived up to expectations as he delivered another remarkable round of golf that delighted the crowd.

Starting the day from the 10th tee, Nakajima's spotless round featured birdies on holes 14, 17, 18 and three.

"This is my home country tournament so there's a lot of Japanese golf fans coming to the golf course," he said. 

"I want to play well for three more rounds. I was really nervous but many spectators came to see us play even in round one. I enjoyed playing in front of them. I hope to do better tomorrow."

Paul shone brightly as he traded seven birdies for two bogeys, putting himself in contention for a potential second title in his DP World Tour career, following his victory in 2022.

"I putted nicely today. My putting coach visited Arizona two weeks ago, and we made several adjustments. It was the first time I had seen him outside of a golf tournament in a while, so it was a good opportunity to make some changes.

"Everything worked well today; I holed some good putts. My ball-striking was decent, nothing extraordinary. I took advantage of the opportunities presented to me."

Leading first round scores (completed):

65: Yannik Paul (Ger), Taisei Shimizu, Tomoyo Ikemura, Taiki Yoshida;

66: Sebastian Soderberg (Swe), Keita Nakajima, Ryosuke Kinoshita, Li Haotong (Chn), Yuki Inamori, Connoer Syme (Sco), Casey Jarvis (Rsa)

Ends.