Kennedy stays in the hunt

Australia's Brad Kennedy remains right in contention for his second Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Samy Cup title following another two-under-par 70 on Friday.

The world number 135 reached the halfway stage of the ¥120,000,000 at North Country Golf Club in a tie for 12th at five-under-par 139.

That left him Kennedy, the 2018 winner, just four shots behind Takumi Kanaya, who shot a 69 to lead the standings for the second consecutive day, clinging on to a slender one-shot lead over second-placed Hiroshi Iwata.

Kanaya's first blemish after two days, a double bogey on hole 10, did little to dampen his spirit as his five birdies were good enough to keep himself at the top.

After struggling to make an impact abroad, where he missed the cut in all his last four starts in Europe, the 24-year-old is aiming to secure some morale-boosting results back home.

"I've been calm and playing for the last two days and I can't say I'm in good shape," he said.

"However, I believe I'm still in control and I can play well for the remaining two days.

"I have a chance to win, so I want to do my best to win."

Yoshitaka Takeya (67) and Taihei Sato (69) were tied for third on seven-under, one better than a group of seven players tied for fifth including Dong Kyu Jang of South Korea, the highest non-Japanese finisher on the leaderboard.

Kennedy backed up his opening round 69 with three birdies and a sole blemish on the par-three second hole.

"It was a tricky start with the breeze, totally opposite (situation) from yesterday, 10, 11 and 12 was a tough start, but I managed to make a nice par putt on 10," said Kennedy, who is seeking a fourth JGTO victory.

"Then I played quite solid, just had trouble with the fairway. The fairways are perfect, but it’s just the grain, hitting it into the grain all the time, lots of spin, makes the distance control quite tricky.

"My second nine, I managed to play well but a poor club selection on number two cost me a bogey there. I made a nice birdie on three and from there I was nicely in control and had some nice chances seven, eight and nine coming in.

"That's really positive, I just need to get my distance control a little bit better with pins that are very difficult to get to. My putting also wasn't the best today, so I need to try to hit it a little closer."

Kennedy hopes to draw some inspiration from his previous victory as he looks to continue charging up the leaderboard over the weekend.

"It's nice to come back to a tournament that I won before. I got a lot of nice memories and friends here," he said.

South African Shaun Norris, making his only fourth JGTO start this week, responded to a poor opening 73 with a sparkling 67.

The 40-year-old, the last year's Japan Open champion, recorded five birdies in his bogey-free card to be joint 21st and five shots off the pace.

Despite feeling rusty after taking several weeks' break, Norris believes he has what it takes to contend over the weekend.

"I played nicely, hit the ball nicely, gave myself a lot of opportunities. The putter felt a little bit cold but eventually started my game with a couple of birdies," said Norris.

"I felt comfortable, I started hitting better shots and just played my normal game again.

"I think after today, there's definitely a little bit some spark in me, got more excited looking

forward to the weekend.

"I did take two weeks off before coming here, normally will try to get used and get back into it, but I hit some good shots and gave myself a lot of opportunities. 

"If I start capitalising on them, you'll see me close to the top at the end of the week."