New Zealand’s Michael Hendry found himself in early contention to win the Token Homemate Cup for the second time following a solid opening round where he carded a five-under-par 66 at the Token Tado Country Club Nagoya in Mie on Thursday.
The 43-year-old carried his fine momentum from last week’s runner-up at the Asian Tour’s World City Championship in Hong Kong by marking his flawless scorecard with five birdies, including in a four-hole stretch starting from the fourth hole to stay two shots off the pace and sit in a four-way tie for fifth place that also features American Han Lee.
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Two-time prize JGTO money king Shugo Imahira and Takumi Kanaya, the 2021 winner, shared the first-round lead after carding matching 64s, one ahead of Yosuke Asaji and Yusaku Hosono in joint third.
“It was really solid, I hit 13 out of 14 fairways, hit a lot of greens and even the one I’ve missed it was easy to get up and down from the fringe. It’s been a pretty pleasing start,” said Hendry.
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After being absent for the past four years, Hendry was pleased to be returning to the scene where he claimed his breakthrough victory on JGTO in 2015.
Asked if anything has changed at the venue, he said: “Nothing as far as I’m aware of.
“The golf course itself seems exactly the same to me. Obviously, this place holds good memories and I just have to try to use that to my advantage this week.
“It’s important for me to finish well this week following a good start today.
“I don’t have a full status here, so I need to get a good result to ensure that I can get into most of the events this year.”
Lee, who finished tied ninth last year, has got off to good start, too, thanks to three late birdies in his final four holes.
South Korean pair Song Young-han and Ryu Hyun-woo were other two impressive performers of the day, firing 67s to be tied for 10th.
Imahira and Kanaya both rode on their respective birdie binge to pull clear from the chasing packs.
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Imahira notched five of his eight birdies over the last seven holes to offset a lone bogey while Kanaya stood out with his flawless scorecard containing seven birdies.
“Hopefully I can secure an early win this week. It’s my goal to win three titles this season,” vowed Imahira.
Still buoyed by his International Series Oman victory on the Asian Tour last month, Kanaya hopes to capitalise on his confidence to get back into winning ways on JGTO.
He has not won a JGTO title since he captured the 2021 Token Homemate Cup for his third victory on Tour.
“Winning the championship (in Oman) gave me lots of confidence. Since then, I was able to play every shot with confidence.”
