In-form Pagunsan trails by one

A month after returning to the winners' circle, Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines is back in contention once again when he fired a flawless six-under-par 67 to sit just one shot off the lead after the opening round of the Hana Bank Invitational on Thursday.

Distance certainly wasn't an issue for the 45-year-old as he blazed the 7,625-yard, par-73 course at Chiba Isumi Golf Club with six birdies to put himself in a position for a second title of the JGTO season following his Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament triumph four weeks ago.

Pagunsan started the day brightly picking up shots on hole numbers two, three, eight and nine before adding two more birdies on 12 and 15 to share the fourth spot with Ryuichi Oiwa.

Ahead of them were in-form Kensei Hirata, the winner of Mizuno Open, Taihei Sato and former JGTO member-turned-KPGA star Yang Ji-ho, who returned matching 66s to co-lead the first-ever event jointly sanctioned by the two Tours.

Newly-crowned ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament winner Keita Nakajima also got off to a great start after carding a 68 to sit in a six-way tie for sixth which included American Seungsu Han.

Pagunsan was delighted with how things panned out for him on the opening day, adding that he's thrilled by the strong competition between the two Tours.

"I'm really pleased with the outcome today because I played well. Some of the holes are very long, but I hit it good," said Pagunsan, who finished T14 at last week's ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament.

"I played well last week too. I have been in good form recently, it's been a while since I played this well.

"I'm enjoying myself in this co-sanctioning tournament. The field is really strong with so many young and talented Japanese and Korean players.

"Not only that they are skilled, but they can also hit the fall far."

Nakajima recovered from an opening bogey on the 10th to charge up the leaderboard with a brilliant scorecard containing four birdies and an eagle on the par-five 18th.

He's eager to capitalise on his good form which saw him finish no worse than a second placing in his last three starts.

"I made a bogey on the first hole, but I did not get panicked and made a birdie afterwards to bring my game throughout the day," said Nakajima, seeking his third JGTO title this week.

"Since the Mizuno Open, my performance and results have been getting better.

"My mental game has improved, so I hope to keep this condition for the rest of the season."

Yang, who once played a full season on JGTO in 2013 and ABEMA Tour for several years prior to COVID-19 pandemic, stole the limelight by mixing an eagle and seven birdies with two bogeys.

"It feels great to play in Japan for the first time in a while. I had played in the regular tour and the Abema Tour of JGTO before COVID. I did not achieve great results on the regular tour, but I always did my best," said Yang, who has a win to his name on the KPGA.

"During this season, ball striking and putting are not doing great, so I switched to a new putter, resulting in my putting going in nicely. I had a great finish today.

"I am focusing only on my performance, not getting frustrated by my results, I think that helps."

Leading first round scores:

(Japan unless stated)

66: Yang Ji-ho (Kor), Taihei Sato, Kensei Hirata;

67: Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Ryuichi Oiwa;

68: Lee Gyu-min (Kor), Taiga Nagano, Kim Min-su (Kor), Keita Nakajima, Seungsu Han (US), Ma Gwan-woo (Kor).