All smiles for Baek in opening round of Fujisankei Classic

American Todd Baek enjoyed a bright start in his continuous pursuit of a maiden JGTO title after shooting five-under-par 66 to sit just two shots behind leader Naoyuki Kataoka at the Fujisankei Classic on Thursday.

Baek, 30, impressed with five birdies in his bogey-free scorecard to tie for third along with Sejung Hiramoto and Tomohiro Ishizaka at Fujizakura Country Club.

Kataoka birdied four of the first eight holes on his way to firing a 64 to seize a slender one-shot lead over Mikumu Horikawa and Aguri Iwasaki.

A pack on 67 includes Gunn Charoenkul of Thailand, who emerged as the second-best international finisher in joint-seventh.

Sanghyun Park of South Korea, the 2019 champion, also got off to a decent start by registering a 68 to finish the day-tied 14th.

Baek, playing in his third season in Japan, hopes to finally stamp his mark with a maiden victory and a fine start is exactly what's needed to accomplish the quest.

He has yet to mount a serious title challenge this season after managing just one top-10 result by finishing outright fifth at the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup.

Baek's closest attempt at victory was tying for second at the Japan Players Championship last year.

Kataoka, 24, continued to show that he's one young prospect to look out for with another outstanding display.

With four top-10 finishes to show this year which included a runner-up at the Japan PGA Championship, Kataoka rode on a hot putter to put himself in early contention for a second JGTO win.

"I converted a lot of mid-range putts, that made the difference today," said the last year's Japan Players Championship winner.

"The birdie at the first hole was from 13m. It was a great downhill hook in the back left.

"It was at the Fujisankei Classic that I made my JGTO debut two years ago in this tournament.

"I feel like I have come a long way although it's just two years.

"It's a really difficult course, so it's a good place to check where my game stands at the moment.

"I'm happy with how my game grows each year.

"Tomorrow will be the same as today. For the time being, I will do my best one shot at a time."