Tomoyo Ikemura will have to share the second round lead of the Japan Open Golf Championship with reigning JGTO Money ranking champion Keita Nakajima after squandering his overnight three-shot advantage on Friday.
Related: Tomoyo Ikemura takes early lead in Japan Open
Ikemura had a three-shot cushion heading into the second round but saw that wiped out after signing for a three-over-par 73 as a fast-charging Nakajima made his move up the leaderboard with 66 to tie Ikemura for the lead with their two-day total of four-under-par 136.
Nakajima, 24, carried the momentum from his opening round where he closed with five birdies in his back-nine before signing for a 69 at the Tokyo Golf Club. He then continued his charge by marking his card with four birdies against a solitary bogey on the fifth hole to move atop the leaderboard.
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“Thanks to my back-nine performance yesterday, I was able to carry that good momentum into today’s round. I played well and tightened up in key moments. The only regret I have is the bogey on the par-5 in the back nine.
I’m really happy that I’ve improved by 8 strokes over the last 27 holes. It’s going to be a tight race, so I’ll just focus on what I can control and aim for another under-par round tomorrow,” said Nakajima, a four-time JGTO winner, who also secured his first DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open earlier this year.
Ikemura is looking forward to the weekend to restart his bid for his third JGTO title after enduring a tough day where he dropped six shots and made three birdies.
“There are still two days left, so if I can do well again with two great rounds, I think I’ll have a chance. There were some good tee shots today, but they ended up in the rough, and I felt like I spent most of the day dealing with difficult rough.
“I thought I could play around par. But in the end, I hit into the rough, so it is what it is. I’ve made the cut and I want to go out there and play aggressively now,” said Ikemura.
