All smiles for Ikemura

Overnight leader Tomoyo Ikemura continued to rule the congested leaderboard, this time on his own, heading into the weekend in prime position at the inaugural ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament.

Ikemura, 26, overcame a slow start where he bogeyed three of the first four holes to return a four-under-par 68 and broke clear from the chasing packs at the ASO Iizuka Golf Club in Fukuoka on Friday.

Nearest competitors Australia's Brad Kennedy (66) and Taiga Nagano (64) were a shot back, while Yusaku Miyazato, the joint opening round leader, rued a costly double bogey at the last to settle for a 70 as he slipped to tied fourth with Ryuko Tokimatsu (67) on 11-under.

Ikemura, who is still chasing his second win since claiming his breakthrough victory at the ISPS HANDA Gatsu-n to tobase Tour tournament last year, deserved a pat on his back for his scintillating fightback.

After bogeying the 10th and 11th, his first two holes of the day, Ikemura managed to redeem one stroke back, but he gave away almost immediately after that. 

But that did not dampen his spirit at all as he steadied the ship by making four gains in the three-hole stretch starting from the 17th with an eagle and a pair of birdies.

He went on to pick up two more shots on the third and sixth to join Miyazato at the summit but was handed the outright lead shortly after the latter dropped two shots at the last.

Miyazato had got off to a flying start by racing to a five-under through 12 holes, but he would concede his first bogey on 13.

Ikemura will want to prove a point after failing to impress yet this season.

He missed five out of his eight appearances thus far, including the four first starts since the Token Homemate Cup.

But he showed that he is slowly returning to form after finishing tied-10 at the Mizuno Open and tied-21st at last week's BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup.

“It was a good day in the office. The course conditions especially the firm greens were challenging. But I’m happy to be in this position where I’m in now and look forward to another exciting day tomorrow,” said Ikemura.