Anthony Quayle fired a five-under-par 67 to put himself back into title contention after two rounds at the weather-hit BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup on Friday.
The 27-year-old made six birdies to offset a lone bogey at the Shishido Hills Country Club to be tied for second place, trailing clubhouse leader Aguri Iwasaki by just two shots.
Related: Jay Choi’s rough ride: Almost quitting golf to atop leaderboard
Continuing his relentless pursuit of a maiden JGTO victory, Quayle showed his intent by charging up the leaderboard with three birdies in his first four holes before making two more gains on the eighth and 11th holes.
Quayle’s good progress was halted after dropping a shot on the par-four 12th but would make amends with a birdie on 16.
With his putter heating up, Quayle believed he could have finished possibly with two more birdies if not for the three-hour play suspension due to bad weather.
“I feel like I was playing good enough to sort of sneak one or even two more birdies (just before the suspension),” said Quayle, who finished runner-up at the Mizuno Open last week.
“I was playing really nicely and just had some momentum. But I’ll take two pars on the 17 and 18 every day this week, so I’m happy with that, and I’m very happy to be where I am right now.”
Being firmly in contention for the second week running, Quayle stressed that it’s important for him to stay in the moment.
“My strategy hasn’t really changed this year, just trying to enjoy myself as much as I can and have a bit more fun,” he said.
“This is such a beautiful golf course, such a great piece of property, and I really enjoy being out here.”
Iwasaki was among the handful of players who managed to complete their round when tournament officials first stopped the play at 1.39 pm local time. The JGTO’s flagship tournament did not resume until it was 4.45 pm.
Iwasaki made the most of his early tee time and fast start to move atop the leaderboard after signing for a 64.
His solid effort contained eight birdies that included reeling in five out of six after the turn, for him to lead by two.
“I’m very happy and confident that I was able to shoot 64 on this course,” said Iwasaki.
“I was hitting good since yesterday, just that I couldn’t make many putts.
“For the next two days, I hope to stay calm and collected and treat it as if it’s a practice round. This is a major event on Tour, and I want to go all out to win it.”
Overnight leader Jay Choi had a day to forget after posting a 75 to slip off the standings into a share of 17th place.
