Sato hits the front at Japan Players Championship by Sato Shokuhin

Taihei Sato sparkled with an eight-under-par 64 in the first round of the Japan Players Championship by Sato Shokuhin to grab a slender one-shot lead on Thursday.

Sato fired six birdies at the turn before adding three more, offset by a lone bogey at the par-three 14th, to stay ahead of veteran Katsumasa Miyamoto and Shota Takahana.

“I hit my irons well and my putting was good too. Overall, it was a solid round and I hope to remain in this position on the leaderboard until the final day,” said Sato.

The 28-year-old Sato, who's still in the hunt for a breakthrough win since 2018, has been enjoying a good run of consistent form but not quite able to deliver a spectacular finish.

Sato made six cuts out of the eight starts, five of them finishing no worse than tied 32nd.

His best result came at the Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament where he shared 20th spot.

Miyamoto, 49, also put himself in early contention for a 13th JGTO title with a flawless 65 that included an eagle on the par-five sixth hole.

He also had five birdies, three of which was a result of hat-trick gains from his opening three holes of the day after teeing off from the 10th.

Miyamoto proved that he still has plenty of gas left in him when he won his last title at The Crowns in 2019.

Playing on sponsor's invite, unheralded Takahana showed that he was no pushover with an impressive display which saw him mixed an eagle, seven eagles and two birdies to give himself a shot at a surprise victory.

Yuto Katsuragawa, currently second in the JGTO Money Rankings, signed for a 66 to be two shots off the pace alongside Ren Kurosaki in a tie for fourth.

Naoyuki Kataoka, the winner of last year's inaugural event, opened his title defence with a decent 67 to sit in a nine-way tie for sixth.