Ryo Ishikawa, his younger brother Wataru Ishikawa, and Tomohiro Ishizaka all carded impressive six-under-par 65s to share the lead after the opening round of the Token Homemate Cup, the season-opening event on the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), at Token Tado Country Club on Thursday.
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Wataru and Ishizaka, both 25, are in pursuit of their maiden JGTO titles—Wataru having turned professional in 2021, and Ishizaka in 2019. Ryo, a veteran with 20 JGTO victories to his name, including two in 2024, is once again in contention.
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The trio leads by a single shot in a tightly packed leaderboard that saw just one stroke separating all players in the 132-man field.
Ishizaka delivered a flawless round, picking up birdies on holes 4, 6, 7, 14, 16, and 17 after starting from the 10th. Ryo, meanwhile, birdied the par-three 3rd to make the turn at 34. His back nine surged with birdies on three of the first four holes before a bogey on 14. He rebounded in style, finishing with three straight birdies beginning at the par-three 16th.
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Wataru mixed eight birdies with two bogeys in a confident start to his campaign.
“It was nice to see my name at the top of the leaderboard today,” said Wataru. “I made several mistakes early in the round but managed to compose myself after the bogey on 11. I made several good putts after that and was pleased to convert them into birdies.”
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Ryo, happy to see his brother among the early leaders, added: “It’s a good family day out for us today with my brother also in the lead. But there are still 54 more holes of golf to be played and it’s still early days for everyone.”
