American Shintaro Ban stormed past his closest rivals with a stunning front-nine 29 to grab the second round lead at The Mizuno Open on Friday.
Related: Shugo Imahira leads after opening round at Mizuno Open
Chasing his breakthrough after plying his trade on the JGTO for close to three years, the 29-year-old showed his intent by charging out with seven birdies in his outward nine, after starting the round three shots off the pace in tied-13th place.
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He picked up further gains on holes 10 and 11 before two bogeys on 13 and 16 saw him settle for a two-day total of 11-under-par 133 and a one-shot advantage over Jigen Serizawa.
“It was an unbelievable front nine. My tee shots were solid, and there wasn’t much wind this morning, which helped. I was hitting a lot of fairways, and my approaches were getting close.
“But this course is still tough. I was focused on aiming for the centre of the green and sticking to this plan. It worked and that gave me chances today,” said Ban.
Ban, who described a fortunate bounce off a stone near the water at the par four ninth as ‘lucky’ and “surprising,” also credited recent putting advice from South African Shaun Norris for helping steady his nerves under pressure.
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“Shaun told me my pace is usually very fast, and I need to slow down. When playing under pressure, I tend to commit mistakes with my shots. So now, I’m consciously trying to go slow and make that a habit,” added Ban.
Song Young-han, meanwhile, stayed in the hunt for his third JGTO victory after signing for a 68 to take outright third place, two shots back of Ban with his 135 total.
The Mizuno Open, which is part of the Open Qualifying Series, will offer the leading three players not already exempt who make the cut a place at the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush in July.
