Bransdon’s off to a promising start

Australia’s David Bransdon will have plenty of reasons to be upbeat after getting off to his best start this season by tying for 15th place in the opening round of the Japan Players Championship by Sato Shokuhin on Thursday.

The 48-year-old carded a solid four-under-par 68 after mixing seven birdies with three bogeys at the Nishi Nasuno Country Club to trail leader Taihei Sato by four shots.

Bransdon, competing on JGTO for the fifth season, is seeking to make an impression after struggling in his first six starts to date. 

Apart from finishing tied-32nd at the Mizuno Open last month, he has failed to make it to the weekend in the other five appearances.

Bransdon has four top-10 finishes in his JGTO career, with his best result being joint-fourth at the Kansai Open in his debut season in 2017.

A former player on the DP World Tour (formerly known as European Tour), Bransdon tasted success twice on the PGA Tour of Australasia, winning the Lexus of Blackburn Heritage Classic in 2013 and the Queensland Open in 2015.

Fellow Australian Andrew Evans was the next best-placed international player in the 156-man standings following an opening 69. Last year’s Qualifying Tournament (QT) winner made six birdies to offset three bogeys on his way to be tied for 29^th place.

American David Oh, making his first start of the season, posted a 70 to finish in a share of 43rd together with South Korea’s Ji Woo Kim, who is bidding to end his dreadful record of completing five tournaments without a cut.

Justin De Los Santos fought back superbly with three birdies on the outward nine to salvage a 71 for tied 56th and stayed on course to make his fourth cut of the season.

The 150th Open-bound player had earlier made the turn at two-over 38 after marking his card with one birdie and three bogeys.