Solid start for Pagunsan as unheralded Kaneda and Yoshida set early pace

Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines enjoyed his best start on the JGTO this year when he posted a one-under-par 69 to be tied for 16th after the opening round of The Crowns at Nagoya Golf Club on Thursday.

The 44-year-old, a one-time Tour winner, started on the 10^th  tee of the Wago Course and had a modest inward nine with two birdies against as many bogeys.

After the turn, Pagunsan secured two more birdies to offset his lone blemish on the par-five second to end the day in the same position as defending champion Yuki Inamori and South Korea’s Song Young-han at four shots off the pace.

Naoyuki Kaneda and Taiki Yoshida set the early pace by firing matching 65s to finish one stroke ahead of Takumi Kanaya and Mikumu Horikawa.

Pagunsan has endured a frustrating start to the new season as he could only make one cut after three starts, finishing tied-70^th at the Token Homemate Cup.

He failed to progress to the weekend of the Kansai Open and was forced to pull out after the opening round of ISPS HANDA Championship last week due to elbow pain.

Pagunsan will be hoping to capitalise on the solid start as he bids to win for the second time on Tour following his famous victory at the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open in 2021, where he carried just 11 clubs with him.

Song, the 2016 SMBC Singapore Open champion, was left kicking himself after letting slip of a good chance to finish at the top of the leaderboard.

Despite leading on five-under through 11 holes, he would squander four shots through successive double bogeys on the 12^th and 13^th.

The next-best international players were American Han Lee and Jbe Kruger of South Africa, who signed for 71 for joint 41^s

For Tour rookie Kaneda, it was certainly a day to remember although he missed out on a glorious chance to finish the day as outright leader.

After bagging six birdies, including hattrick gains from hole No. 7-9, he agonisingly missed a par putt from two metres at the last.

Kaneda, who’s making his only second Tour appearance since turning professional in 2017, said: “I haven't had much experience playing on the main Tour, so being able to play like I did today, I’m really happy with the outcome.

“Just being able to be part of such a prestigious tournament and enjoy the atmosphere is good enough. I think this experience will stand me in good stead for the future.”

Leading first round scores:

65: Naoyuki Kaneda, Taiki Yoshida;

66: Takumi Kanaya, Mikumu Horikawa;

67: Mikiya Akutsu, Hiroshi Iwata, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Takanori Konishi, Tomohiro Ishizaka, Rikuya Hoshino, Masaya Hattori;

68: Shingo Katayama, Keita Nakajima, Tatuaki Mizuta, Yusuke Sakamoto.