Recently many from both men and women golf tours are thanking the legendary player, Jumbo Ozaki. Last week Yuta Ikeda thanked Jumbo for his win, and so did Erika Hara of JLPGA.
This week, 26 years old Mikumu Horikawa can't thank Jumbo enough. They were on the same groupings today, and Jumbo offered a putting lesson to Mikumu, with that he came out with a miraculous birdie rush.

"I made unbelievably great start in front of my savior."

Mikumu had the chance to play with Jumbo in the season opening tournament, but he was already having a hard time with his putting. After that 1st Round with Jumbo, he had the honor of getting a lesson from him. Jumbo told Mikumu that his hand position and his body posture was not balanced correctly with the length of his putter.

Mikumu tried every possible way to take in Jumbo's advice and he got out of the woods. And today was the day to show Jumbo how he has overcome the putting problem with Jumbo's golden advice.

Mikumu was all concentrated from the start, he made 1-meter on the 1st, and 3-meter on the 2nd, then he continued to make 3-meters on 3rd and 4th.

Jumbo was having a hard time with his back ache and he was joking that "when your birdie streak ends, I will quit playing."
So, Mikumu must continue.

Eventually, Jumbo had to retire due to his back ache at 5th hole, but Mikumu's birdie streak continued until the 6th hole. 6 consecutive birdies from the start matches the JGTO record.
"1 to 6 is Shishido's chance holes, I aimed to take 2 or 3 chances, but I was able to take all 6."

With these birdies, he was able to get his momentum and passed the toughest 14th hole and on to score 68 on Day 1.
Thanks to Jumbo, unfortunately he won't be there to see tomorrow, but Mikumu aims to get it going.
"I really wish to win, but I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself. I will play every shot by shot and grab my chances."
The best way to thank Jumbo must be to give a "victory speech" on Sunday afternoon.