In-form Iwata shares first round lead at Hana Bank Invitational​

A red-hot Hiroshi Iwata continued to impress when he fired a flawless six-under-par 65 to tie for the lead after the opening round of the Hana Bank Invitational in South Korea on Thursday.

The 43-year-old dazzled at the Nam Chun Cheon Country Club in Gangwon with six birdies, putting himself in early contention for a second consecutive win following his BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship triumph last week.

Iwata secured a birdie on the fourth hole, but it wasn't until the turn that he truly surged, making three successive gains from the ninth hole to climb the leaderboard.

He finished strong, birdieing the 16th and 18th holes to share the lead with South Korea's Park Kyung-nam, who also completed a bogey-free round with six birdies.

The pair hold a one-shot lead over a group of four players, including Taiki Yoshida, who sparkled with five birdies against no bogeys to ensure the JGTO's flag flew high in the tournament jointly sanctioned by the KPGA Tour.

Yuta Sugiura, Takashi Ogiso, Tsubasa Ukita, and 2022 Money Rankings winner Kazuki Higa each carded matching 67s to sit in an 11-way tie for seventh, which also featured defending champion Yang Ji-ho.

Iwata expressed satisfaction with how things unfolded for him on the first day, especially after overcoming challenging conditions on the course.

"It was tiring, but not because of fatigue lingering from last week's tournament. It's mainly due to the heat and the undulating course," said Iwata.

"The slopes on the greens are steep, so you have to carefully consider where to land your approach shots. Today, I managed quite well by consulting with my caddie."

Iwata was also quick to downplay his ambition for back-to-back wins, instead stressing his focus on consistent performance.

"I'm not really fixated on winning two weeks in a row. It's about taking it one day at a time, one shot at a time."

Like Iwata, Yoshida also mentioned that walking the undulating course had exhausted him, but otherwise, it was a smooth day for him.

Yoshida birdied all three par-five holes — the 7th, 10th, and 18th — accounting for all five gains he made for the day.

"I'm feeling good. There weren't any difficult situations. I missed the green three times in the front nine, but those were just slight misses, so I managed okay with my approach shots," said Yoshida, whose best JGTO finish was coming in runner-up at last year's Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters.

"The back nine went smoothly too. I'm a bit tired from walking (laughs). My concentration waned quite a bit. It'stough. Especially at this time.

"It's always crucial to birdie the par-fives. I always aim to get one or two birdies on them."

Leading first round scores: 

65: Hiroshi Iwata, Park Kyung-nam (Kor);

66: Kim Seng-yong (Kor), Taiki Yoshida, Hwang Inn-choon (Kor), Chang Hee-min (Kor);

67: Kang Yun-seok (Kor), Yuta Sugiura, Richard T. Lee (Can), Takashi Ogiso, Tsubasa Ukita, Kim Yeong-su (Kor), Jang Yu-bin (Kor), Park Eun-shin (Kor), Kazuki Higa, Yang Ji-ho (Kor), Kim Han-byeol (Kor).