Perry stays close in title hunt

Australia's Dylan Perry remains firmly in contention for his maiden JGTO breakthrough as Ryutaro Nagano kept himself atop the leaderboard heading into the weekend of the Kansai Open Golf Championship in Osaka.

Perry added a creditable two-under-par 69 to his opening 65 to sit on eight-under-par 134 total - two shots adrift of Nagano, who is also searching for his first JGTO win, after signing for a 132 total.

Perry, joint third overnight, ended the day one rung lower after carding five birdies, including shots gained on 16 and 18, against three bogeys at the Izumigaoka Country Club.

"Today was a bit of everything, a little scrappy in some parts but there were also some good as well. If that's going to be my bad day, I'd be happy," said Perry, whose best JGTO result was finishing joint third at the Heiwa PGM Championship in 2019.

"The greens were very tricky today because the flags were placed on top of the slope, you got to hit good shots to get close to them."

Being in a good position at the weekend, Perry is relishing the chance to join in the title race - something he did not experience too often over the last 18 months.

Last year, he missed the cut in six of the seven outings.

"I just have to keep it simple and put myself in the best spot and give myself the best chance," said Perry.

"We're going to expect a bit of rain, so that could soften the golf course a bit and make the flag a little easier to get to.

"I just need to stay patient, keep making good shots and hole some putts."

Among other international players, American Todd Baek posted 68 to be in a four-way tie for seventh and 2013 winner Brad Kennedy of Australia was tied for 12th alongside local young guns Taiga Semikawa and Riki Kawamoto after all carding matching 67s.

Baek was in good spirits despite a late bogey on 17 denied him of a flawless card.

"I missed a couple of hits on 17 and made bogey there, but overall it was pretty solid, I missed only one fairway today," said Baek, a two-time ABEMA Tour winner.

"The course is in good shape, I'm looking forward to the weekend.

 "I have a pretty good game plan with my caddie, just that I need to give myself more opportunities.

"I putted okay, just stick to the game plan and it should be a fun weekend."

Leading second round scores:

132: Ryutaro Nagano 64-68;

133: Sejung Hiramoto 68-65, Tsubasa Ukita 64-69;

134: Ryuko Tokimatsu 70-64, Dylan Perry (Aus) 65-69, Riou Shimano 69-65;

135: Taisei Yamada 65-70, Yuto Katsumata 66-69, Todd Baek (US) 67-68, Shigo So 70-65, Kosuke Suzuki 68-67;

136: Taiki Yoshida 71-65, Riki Kawamoto 69-67, Taiga Semikawa 69-67, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 69-67.