Published July 17, 2008 on April 19, 2018

Katayama and Hoshino Stay Ahead of the Chasing Pack at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship

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Japan’s Shingo Katayama and Rikuya Hoshino took the early honours when they returned with matching seven-under-par 64s for a share of the first round lead at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship on Thursday.

“I like to hear ‘Nice Play’ from the crowd. The conditions were ideal today as there was not much wind and I was pretty consistent with my shots and putting. After playing in the final group last week, I was thinking why was I not in the position to win the tournament. I realized it was not my golf skills, but my mental strength. So I learned from it and decided to keep my focus. I’ve played here a few times and I remember leading a tournament here before. I carded an eight-under in my first round. But that time I was much younger, so I went out drinking in the city after that I played really poorly. I’m pretty much settled now so I will not make the same mistake,” said Katayama.

Japan’s Ryosuke Kinoshita fired an eagle-three at the last hole to take outright third place on 65 while the fourth place was shared by seven players that included defending champion Kenichi Kuboya who posted a 66.

Malaysia’s Ben Leong, who welcomed the arrival of his baby boy on Monday, enjoyed a promising start to his campaign when he posted a 67 to end the day tied for 11 at the JP¥150,000,000 (approx. US$1,370,000) event that is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

Thailand’s Prom Meesawat and veteran Prayad Marksaeng also opened their accounts encouragingly when they signed for matching 68s at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship, which is also the concluding leg of the Panasonic Swing series.

Katayama, who finished in eighth place on the JGTO money list last season, has never got the job done despite getting off to good starts at the Ibaraki Country Club before. But at 45, the flamboyant Japanese believes he is now older and wiser to contend for the title.

Leong found bliss on and off the golf course as the new father emerged as the leading Malaysian. The 32-year-old is currently three shots off the pace and is seeking to end a decade-long drought on the Asian Tour while Prom will be relying on his playing experience in Japan to notch his first Asian Tour win since 2014.

“It has been a couple of weeks since we last teed up on the Asian Tour and it’s nice to get off to a good start. It was bumpy for my first nine holes with lots of bogeys and birdies. But I settled down in my back-nine and told myself not to give up and just do my best. The arrival of my baby boy has given me lots of joy and new responsibilities too. My wife was not supposed to be due on Monday. He’s our first child and we don’t know when he’s going to come as it might be late or early. My wife has been really supportive and she told me, you don’t know when he’s going to come, so don’t miss this chance. So I’m going to give my 100% this week,” said Leong. 

Leading scores after round 1  

64 – Shingo KATAYAMA (JPN), Rikuya HOSHINO (JPN).

65 – Ryosuke KINOSHITA (JPN).

66 – Jinichiro KOZUMA (JPN), Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN), Kenichi KUBOYA (JPN), Sanghee LEE (KOR), Kodai ICHIHARA (JPN), Brad KENNEDY (AUS), Hyungsung KIM (KOR).

67 – Giwhan KIM (KOR), Michael HENDRY (NZL), Ben LEONG (MAS), Sanghyun PARK (KOR), Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA).

68 – Kyungnam KANG (KOR), Prom MEESAWAT (THA), Yujiro OHORI (JPN), Prayad MARKSAENG (THA), Koichi KITAMURA (JPN), Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA), Hiroyuki FUJITA (JPN), Chikkarangappa S. (IND).

69 – Yamato SHIRAISHI (am, JPN), Konosuke NAKAZATO (JPN), Nicholas FUNG (MAS), Shaun NORRIS (RSA), Shinji TOMIMURA (JPN), Rahil GANGJEE (IND), Yuki INAMORI (JPN), Shohei KARIMATA (JPN), HUNG Chien-yao (TPE), Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA), Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND), S.S.P. CHAWRASIA (IND).