Semikawa maintains pole position at Japan PGA Championship

Taiga Semikawa continued to stay in the hunt for his fifth JGTO win by firing another bogey-free round of five-under-par 66 to share the second round lead with Yuta Sugiura and Taisei Shimizu at the  ¥150,000,000 Japan PGA Championship on Friday.

Australia’s Brad Kennedy, meanwhile, fired the day’s lowest round of 63 to stay two shots back of the leaders, sharing fourth place with Yuta Ikeda on matching nine-under-par 133 at the Fuji Country Kani Club .

Semikawa, the former amateur no. 1, marked his card with three birdies on holes three, 13 and 14 and an eagle on 17 to maintain his position atop the summit as he chases his next win since his last victory at the season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, seven months ago. 

“In the front nine, I struggled with my tee shots and the accuracy. I was unable to create many chances as my shots were not going straight as much as I wanted to. However, things began to change from the back nine. I started to hit good shots and the putts started to fall,” said the 23-year-old Semikawa.

Semikawa will renew his friendly rivalry with Sugiura as they will be paired together in the third round with the former seeking to claim his first professional win- although he made history at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament last year by becoming its first-ever amateur champion and only seventh amateur winner in JGTO history to do so.

“I’ve known Yuta since our student days. We socialise and practise together. We even share the same trainer. I’m looking forward to playing together with him tomorrow. He’s also a good player and will also give me a good opportunity to see how I measure myself up against him,” said Semikawa.

Ends.

Leading second round scores
131 Yuta Sugiura 65-66, Taisei Shimizu 65-66, Taiga Semikawa 65-66
133 Yuta Ikeda 66-67, Brad Kennedy 70-63
134 Taihei Sato 69-65
135 Kosei Takeyama 67-68, Takumi Kanaya 65-70, Ryutaro Nagano 66-69