Justin De Los Santos of the Philippines proved just how determined he is to make every tournament count when he impressed with an opening six-under-par 65 at the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan on Thursday.
The 26-year-old recovered from an early bogey and carded seven birdies, four of which came from the five-hole stretch starting from the 12th hole at the PGM Ishioka Golf Club in Ibaraki to sit just three shots adrift first round leader Yuki Furukawa.
Related: Kazuki Higa displays nerves of steel to win Kansai Open
De Los Santos, competing on a limited status from the last year’s QT, did not make the field for both the Token Homemate Cup and last week’s Kansai Open Golf Championship.
He was eager to make up for lost time after finishing a creditable tied-14th at the SMBC Singapore Open in January.
Australia’s Brad Kennedy and Jbe Kruger from South Africa birdied two of their last three holes on the way to a matching 66s to be tied for 19th, emerging as the second-highest international finishers along with Korea’s Sanghee Lee and Michael Hendry of New Zealand.
Sitting a further shot back were American Todd Baek, Anthony Quayle of Australia, Shaun Norris of South Africa and Filipino veteran Juvic Pagunsan.
Quayle made up for an early blemish on 12 with back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to turn in 34 before trading four more birdies against a bogey on his return journey.
“I got off to a slow start. I felt a little tense and made bad golf swings and a couple of silly mistakes,” said Quayle, who finished tied 40th at the Kansai Open Golf Championship last week.
“I just told myself to stay patient and tried to enjoy the day. I played better for the rest of the day.”
Quayle believes he has what it takes to do well on the course and hopes to put up a chase on the leaders.
“The course suits me very well. I didn’t have my best stuff today and yet still shot four-under,” he said.
“I feel like I could go really low if I played well.
“There are still three more days to go. Hopefully, I can get a few things going.”
The day clearly belonged to Furukawa after blazing the course with nine birdies for a blemish-free 62.
“I was able to play very calmly today, thanks to the momentum built from the Token Homemate Cup and Kansai Open last week,” said Furukawa, who’s playing his second full season.
“I had a good run of five straight birdies from the 14th. The putter was hot. I made just 25 putts throughout the day.
“I look forward to building from this solid first round. It’s my goal to win my first title this year, and hopefully, it’s going to be as soon as this week!”
