It seemed like an easy round for Shugo Imahira, the 2018&19 Order of Merit Champion, who marked 66 on R1 at the Japan Open today.
"I believe I was caught in the roughs only 3 or 4 times."

As Shugo stated, he only made 1 bogey on his back nine 2nd Hole. Showed his steady performance by scoring 66 with 5 birdies and a bogey.
"It was tough condition today, so I am very satisfied with my score."

Last month in September, he was able to make the cutline and continue onto the weekends. It was his first time to make the cut in 8 tries since his first challenge since 2016 British Open.
"I was able to play as I planned on R2, that was a big step forward for me to gain confidence. I always placed pressure on myself not to make any bogies, but from then on, I reduced that pressure and told myself that there will be a chance for bounce back even I did make a bogey. That really helped me mentally."

He spent many hours on muscle training during the off period due to the pandemic.
"Thanks to the training, I didn't gain weight, but I think I got my inner muscle stronger."

Shugo has a hard schedule lying ahead. Next Monday on October 19th, he will fly to US for ZOZO Championship in California, then he will come back to Japan for a while and fly back to US for Masters in November.

"This week's Japan Open in one big title I want to achieve before I go back to the toughest world top class field."

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