Kosuke Suzuki will be the man to catch after he fired a second round seven-under-par 65 to lead the Casio World Open Golf Tournament on Friday.
Related: Sunagawa sets early pace, Kaneko watchful at Casio World Open
With his two-day total of 14-under-par 130, the 25-year-old, who started the day in second place, takes a two-shot advantage into the weekend over Kosuke Sunagawa, who slipped to second place at the penultimate event of the 2025 JGTO season.
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Current JGTO money ranking leader Kota Kaneko signed for a 69 to trail Suzuki by five shots in in tied-fourth place while Philippines’ Justin De Los Santos and Singapore’s Nicklaus Chiam are the international players inside the top-10 in tied-sixth and tied-eighth place respectively.
Starting on the back-nine 10, Suzuki got off to a dream start with an eagle three before soaring further ahead with a pair of birdies on holes 13 and 14. His charge was halted momentarily after a bogey on 15 but he would pick himself up again with another birdie on 18.
Suzuki, who is looking for his breakthrough this week, then parred the next two holes after the turn before storming ahead with three successive birdies starting from the par-four three. He would par his closing four holes to take his place atop the leaderboard after the second round.
Suzuki admitted his round was built around his putting than his ball-striking.
“My shots weren’t great today. I wasn’t really satisfied with them. But my putting was good, and that’s what led to the birdies. There were some good moments, but also some rough patches. That’s something I need to work on,” said Suzuki.
Suzuki’s putter, however, was firing on all cylinders. “Long putts were going in, and I made my two- to three-metre putts as well. Overall, the putting felt really good,” he said, adding that he found the greens “easy to read” this week.
The 25-year-old is also motivated by the chance to return to the season-ending JT Cup next week, having notched only one top-10 all season.
“I played it in my first year, but couldn’t qualify last year. The JT Cup is special, so of course I want to play it again. My results haven’t been great this year, so finishing first or second this week would get me in. If I can keep playing good golf tomorrow and the next day, I’ll have a chance.”
Suzuki acknowledged that inconsistent form across all areas had held him back this season.
“My driver, irons, approach shots, putting. Everything was a little different from last year. My scores weren’t improving and even my distance dropped a bit.”
Still seeking his maiden JGTO victory, Suzuki is determined to break through this weekend.
“I’ve been in contention a few times, but I haven’t been able to keep pushing on the third and fourth days. From tomorrow, I want to erase those past issues and just play the same golf I did today.”
