Kinoshita, Shimizu, Kanaya and Imahira lead Japan’s charge

Ryosuke Kinoshita, Taisei Shimizu, Takumi Kanaya and Shugo Imahira spearheaded Japan’s charge after returning with matching four-under-par 66s in the first round of the Zozo Championship on Thursday.
 
The quartet trails American leader Taylor Moore by three shots in tied-seventh place at the no-cut event that is co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour and played at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
 
Kinoshita was among the early starters, returning to the clubhouse where he marked his card with eight birdies and four bogeys. The 33-year-old finished second at the Japan Open a fortnight ago and showed his resolve to shed that bridesmaid tag against a world-class field.
 
“I have bitter memories of the Japan Open, but it was a good learning experience and I just need to bounce back from that disappointment now,” said Kinoshita. 
 
Kinoshita, who is among the 14 JGTO members in the field, stormed out with five birdies in his opening six holes before dropping two shots on eight and nine. He birdied 10 but dropped another two shots on 11 and 12 before picking up gains on 13 and 16.
 
“My ball striking has been good, and I’m feeling confident this week. My game has improved considerably and I hope to justify that with a good result. I have to keep what I am doing for three more days,” added the 33-year-old.
 
Shimizu, who is making his debut at the Zozo Championship, is enjoying the experience of taking on the elite PGA Tour field and is pleased with his opening round efforts.
 
“The atmosphere here is fantastic and I’m having a lot of fun. I didn’t make any major mistakes today and I’m pleased I managed to stay focused and calm. I’m excited about tomorrow and hope the crowd will continue cheering for me.
 
Defending champion Collin Morikawa posted a 69 for a tied-35^th place while World No. 2 Xander Schauffele struggled to end day one in tied-70^th place.
 
Kinoshita will start round two at 10:02 am (local time) alongside Ben Griffin of the United States and Victor Perez of France while Shimizu tees off at 10:57 am together with Carson Young and Ben Silverman of the United States.
 
Kanaya and Imahira will have an earlier start at 8:45 am and 9:40 am respectively.
 
Leading first round scores
63 – Taylor Moore (USA)
64 – Max Greyserman (USA), Nico Echavarria (COL), Eric Cole (USA)
65 – C.T. Pan (TPE), Kevin Yu (TPE)
66 – Ryosuke Kinoshita, Taisei Shimizu, Takumi Kanaya, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN), Shugo Imahira, K.H. Lee (KOR), Justin Thomas (USA), Beau Hossler (USA), Zac Blair (USA)