Taihei Sato renews hunt for breakthrough on JGTO with aplomb

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

Taihei Sato sparkled with an eight-under-par 64 in the first round of the Japan Players Championship 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 is still in the hunt for a breakthrough win since 2018, has been enjoying a good run of consistent form but is 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.

Australia’s David Bransdon, meanwhile, will have plenty of reasons to be upbeat after getting off to his best start this season by tying for 15th place after the opening round.

The 48-year-old carded a 68 after mixing seven birdies with three bogeys to trail leader 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 29th 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.