Han sets sights on ending title drought

American Seungsu Han believes it will be a matter of time before he returns to his winning ways on JGTO after firing himself into early contention at the Token Homemate Cup on Thursday.

The 35-year-old traded six birdies against a lone bogey to finish in a four-way tie for third place and just one shot behind joint first-round leaders Tomoyasu Sugiyama and Kunihiro Kamii at the Token Tado Country Club Nagoya.

Han attributed his solid start to good preparations during the pre-season, where he competed in four Asian Tour tournaments, including the SMBC Singapore Open in January.

"It's nice to get off to a good start," said Han, who is playing in his sixth season in Japan. "It's my first start in Japan, but I have played four Asian Tour tournaments already this year, which is more than what I normally do (during the offseason), and I think that helped a lot."

After rediscovering his form in the latter part of last season, Han is determined to win a second JGTO title which has eluded him for five years.

His sole JGTO victory came in 2017 when he won the Casio World Open, having also finished runner-up twice and coming in third on three occasions that year.

Han ended that year in a career-best fifth position in the JGTO money list and 80th place on the Official World Golf Ranking. He struggled to replicate the success ever since but came knocking on the door of a second win twice by finishing second at the ANA Open and Bridgestone Open in 2019.

"I had a couple of chances after that (win in 2017), so I definitely want to get that one as soon as I can," said Han. "Last year was a tough one for me. I struggled early on in the season, but I was able to get my game back towards the end of the year. Hopefully, I can build on it and pick up the trophy again."

South African ace Shaun Norris also got his bid for a second win in as many months off to a fine start by signing for a 68 to be tied for eighth spot.

Norris continued where he left off after his Steyn City Championship triumph two weeks ago to mark his scorecard with five birdies and two bogeys.

"I hit the ball nicely and gave myself some good chances. The wind made things tricky, but overall I'm quite happy with today," said Norris.

"The course here has always been good, kudos to the greenkeepers and staff who have always done a great job."

Angelo Que will be keeping his fingers crossed that he can finally get it right at the fifth time of asking in the tournament.

The seasoned campaigner from the Philippines put himself in a good position after posting a 69 for joint 17th placing.

"It's a pretty good start. I haven't made the cut here before," said Que, who played here four times from 2016-to 2019.

"With a two-under, I'm very happy, very satisfied with my game. It's really cold here as we're more used to humid and hot weather. Playing in cooler weather is definitely a challenge, but I'm loving it," added Que.

Sugiyama bounced back from an opening bogey to go on a birdie binge and fired a sparkling 65 to sit atop the 132-man leaderboard with Kamii, who had an eagle on 12.

"I have been practising well and benefited from the training camp before this week's opening tournament," said Sugiyama.

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