Grant Forrest shot the low round of the week to join Lucas Herbert and Jazz Janewattananond at the top of the ISPS HANDA-CHAMPIONSHIP leaderboard after round two.
The Scot drained a monster birdie putt at the eighth – his penultimate hole – before making a closing gain from around ten feet to sign for a 62 and join early starters Janewattananond and Herbert at 10 under par.
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Thailand’s Janewattananond also finished in style at PGM Ishioka Golf Club, making five birdies over the last seven holes, including three in a row from the 16th, in his round of 63.
Australian Herbert, whose arrival into Japan was delayed by travel issues, also recorded a round of 63, which contained nine birdies and two bogeys.
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Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer was in solo fourth, one shot behind the leaders on nine under after his 65.
Takumi Kanaya was the leading Japanese player on eight under, alongside England’s Jordan Smith and South African Deon Germishuys.
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Four-time Major Champion Ernie Els put on a show over the closing stretch, following a birdie on the 15th by holing his bunker shot for an eagle on the 16th to reach four under and safely make the cut. The South African legend’s magic on 16 helped the ISPS HANDA Eagle Pledge tally, with $1,000 being donated to the G4D Tour for every eagle made this week.
Player Quotes
Grant Forrest: I didn’t realise where I was until the last green and I thought ‘oh this is for a 62’. Just plugged away all day. Got the putter going, I didn’t really hole any putts yesterday but managed to roll in a few. Got one in on the eighth, our 17th, from a long way. Other than that, just pretty solid.
The weather wasn’t great at home the past month (with no events), but did what we could, just tried to keep playing as much as I could at home and keep everything ticking over.
I’m looking forward to the weekend. The course is firming up a bit. There have been some tucked pins and I imagine it will stay the same going into the weekend.
Jazz Janewattananond: It was amazing (closing with three birdies). It was slow at the start and then it built up and had a really good finish. I’m feeling good, feeling comfortable on the golf course, not so tense.
I used to play on the JGTO so it’s good to be back here in Japan playing a similar golf course to I used to play back in 2019, so it’s good to be back.
It’s amazing (to have the first DP World Tour / JGTO co-sanctioned event), it’s an amazing opportunity for guys like me to play in Asia and on the DP World Tour. Getting the European guys out to play in Japan, all of the guys I’ve talked to love it, so we should have more of this.
Lucas Herbert: It was a bit of a travel debacle getting here. It might have been a bit of a blessing in disguise. Out on the course you can just commit to a shot a bit easier and not know what is left or right. You don’t have the same memories from hitting bad shots in the practice round, or knowing where the bad places are. Just stand up, look at a target, and hit it.
Nick, my caddie got here when he should have and did all the work for me. That speaks a lot to why we are ten under through 36 holes.
I’m driving it well, it’s a golf course where you get a lot of looks if you drive it well and get on the fairway, some shorter clubs into the greens. I feel like it’s setting up for me well so far. The putter started to behave today. It’s a golf course I can play well on and I feel comfortable out here.
