8th year professional Mikumu Horikawa made a rocket start with scoring 64 on 1R. He made 5 straight birdies from 12th to 17th. He has been suffering putting yips for nearly 2 years. He said, in the worst times, "It felt like I was putting inside water on my follow through, I just couldn't move my hands. I just lost control of my club."

He tried every thinkable changes and trainings to figure out the way to solve his yips. He was able to gain some hints to fix his problems from early autumn, and this week he came up with another tip.

"I have been placing different spin according to whether the putt is hook line or slice line. Thanks to many trails, my putting is getting better. I am regaining my confidence too. I still get bad feelings telling me that I would lose control of my putting, but that it is getting less and less. Now I give myself a moment to focus on my play and get rid of the bad feelings."

Mikumu's 1st victory was at Japan Golf Tour Championship in 2019, and with this win he has gained 5-year exemption. So, he is still very anxiously waiting for his 2nd victory.

"I tend to lose the momentum on the next day after making great charge. But I will try to reset my mind and play with fresh mind tomorrow."