Hiramoto takes early lead

Sejung Hiramoto took the outright first round lead by firing a flawless six-under-par 64 to set the early pace at this week’s Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters.

The 25-year-old, who turned professional in 2021 and searching for his breakthrough on the JGTO, had a splendid back-nine to thank after he sank five birdies in his homeward run to lead by one over Mikumu Horikawa and Ryosuke Kinoshita.

Despite playing at the Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course for the first time, Hiramoto showed no signs of nerve as he got his title ambitions underway with four straight pars before notching his first birdie on five. 

He reached the turn in 34 and caught fire in his inward-nine by nailing birdies on holes 10, 11, 14, 17 and 18.

“When I started my practice this morning, I felt confident about my game and it turned out the way I was aiming for. I avoided the bogeys and managed to complete all 18 holes without making any mistakes.

“This course has a reputation for having one of the fastest greens throughout the year and I’m pleased I had the speed control to handle it well,” said Hiramoto.

Kinoshita, meanwhile, played through the pain barrier and was pleased to return with a bogey-free 65 as he chases his fourth JGTO title this week.

“I overstretched a muscle and injured it when I arrived here on Monday. I had to cut short my Pro-Am round to rest. The pain is in my left hip joint, and it hurts when I move my leg backwards.

I was considering withdrawing from the tournament if the pain was still too severe. But luckily, I could swing my clubs enough to get through the round. My goal was just to finish the round today, but I ended up going bogey-free and managed to improve by five strokes, which was a miracle!” said Kinoshita.

Leading first round scores
(All Japanese unless indicated otherwise)
64 – Sejung Hiramoto
65 – Mikumu Horikawa, Ryosuke Kinoshita
66 – Daisuke Kataoka, Hideto Tanihara, Takumi Kanaya, Ryo Ishikawa, Shugo Imahira
67 – Ryo Katsumata, Song Young-han (KOR), Taihei Sato, Yosuke Tsukada, Satoshi Kodaira, Tomohiro Kondo, Justin De Los Santos (PHI), Eric Sugimoto, Han Lee (USA)