Iwasaki plots his way to early lead

Aguri Iwasaki, chasing his second JGTO win, got off to a promising start at this week’s ¥100,000,000 Sansan KBC Augusta with a blemish-free eight-under-par 64 to set the early pace at the Keya Golf Club on Thursday.

The 26-year-old topped the 138-man field on the opening day took advantage of his long drives on the par-five to mark his card with eagles on holes six and 13 while adding birdies on holes five, nine, 11 and 18 for a slender one-shot lead over Taiga Semikawa and Masashi Hidaka who returned with matching 65s.

New Zealand’s Michael Hendry, who ended his nine-year title drought on the JGTO with his victory at For The Players by The Players in May, leads the international challenge after signing for a 67 for a share of sixth place while South Africa’s Shaun Norris, a six-time JGTO winner, is a further shot back in tied-11th (68).

Iwasaki parred his first four holes before a birdie and an eagle on holes five and six gave him the early advantage. He then birdied the ninth hole before extending his lead over the chasing pack with two birdies and another eagle in his back-nine.

“I had no problem with my tee shots today and I was glad I managed to do well even though it was a scorching hot day! The heat was definitely a factor and apart from hoping to maintain this consistency, I hope I can manage the weather conditions well for the next three days,” said Iwasaki.

Meanwhile, Semikawa will be approaching the greens with caution as he looks to resume his charge after signing for a 65 where he dropped a shot on the par-three third hole but made up with six birdies and one eagle.

“They (the greens) were quite fast. I expect the greens to harden and become faster for the afternoon start tomorrow, so I’ll need to be careful,” said Semikawa, the four-time JGTO winner.

Defending champion Song Yong-han carded a 72 to end the day eight shots off the pace in xx place.

Leading first round scores
*All Japanese unless indicated otherwise
64 – Aguri Iwasaki 
65 – Taiga Semikawa, Masashi Hidaka 
66 – Yuwa Kosaihira, Hiroya Kubota
67 – Michael Hendry (Nzl), Daisuke Kataoka, Tomoyo Ikemura, Yosuke Tsukada, Kosuke Sunagawa

Selected
68 - Shaun Norris (Rsa)
69 - Justin De Los Santos (Phi)
72 – Song Yong-han (Kor)

End.