Justin De Los Santos vowed to continue his aggressive approach after firing another splendid round of five-under-par 66 to stay in the mix at the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan on Friday.
The 26-year-old Filipino has no intentions of slowing down after registering six more birdies to head into the weekend tied for seventh place on 11-under-par 131 total- just one shot behind the leading Japanese Yuki Furukawa, Yuto Katsuragawa, Kazuki Higa, Daijiro Izumida, Katsumasa Miyamoto and Rikuya Hoshino.
Related: De Los Santos’ opening show a statement of intent
De Los Santos believes the key to having a shot at glory on Sunday is to take full advantage of the ideal-scoring PGM Ishioka Golf Club.
“I just want to stay aggressive because the scores will be very low,” said De Los Santos, who could have matched his opening effort 65 had he not bogeyed the par-three eighth hole.
“If you’re not going to be aggressive and make those birdies, you’ll fall behind. So, I plan to stay aggressive as I’ve been in the past two days and make more birdies.
“The conditions are good and pretty soft. It’s not difficult to hit it to the greens, even coming from the rough. I putted well too. That kind of put me in the position that I am.”
Despite enjoying one of his best recent starts on JGTO, De Los Santos is not getting carried away just yet.
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He is counting his blessings to be just playing again after his limited status failed to earn him an entry into the Token Homemate Cup and Kansai Open Golf Championship earlier.
“After missing out on the last two events, it’s nice to be back out here, and it’s even nicer to play well. So, I’m happy,” said De Los Santos
Thailand’s Thanyakhon Khrongpha, the ISPS Handa Match Play winner in 2018, got back into the groove after two missed cuts with a sparkling 62 to climb to joint ninth on 10-under-par.
The Thai fired the best score of the day after scoring an eagle and seven birdies and was joined by New Zealander Michael Hendry, who pencilled his bogey-free five scorecard with five birdies for a 66.
Meanwhile, Katsuragawa, who shot a 63 to continue his relentless push for a maiden JGTO victory, said he has benefitted from a switch to lighter iron clubs.
Katsuragawa has been knocking on the door a couple of times this year by coming in joint-runner up at the SMBC Singapore Open and lone second at the Token Homemate Cup.
“The iron clubs were a little heavy for me. I get tired from swinging, so I couldn’t swing it good,” said Katsuragawa.
“But by reducing the weight of the irons by 10g, the club became easier to good swing, and I was able to control it well.
‘That is the reason for the good performance of late.”
The weekend cut was set at five-under-par, with 75 players progressing into the last 36 holes.
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