Taiga Semikawa celebrated his 23rd birthday by carding a two-under-par 68 to kickstart his campaign tied provisionally for 29th alongside Yuto Katsuragawa at the PGA Tour‘s Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday.
Semikawa mixed five birdies with three bogeys at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu to trail clubhouse leader Cameron Davis of Australia by six shots.
Related: Cam Davis soars with career low at Sony Open
Davis shot a 62 to lead by two from American Taylor Montgomery.
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This year marks Semikawa’s second consecutive appearance in the tournament after finishing T67 last year.
“I aim for a better score than today. My goal is to achieve four or more birdies every day, so I will work hard to reach that target,” said Semikawa.
Katsuragawa birdied two of his last three holes of the day, giving himself a good chance to make up for last year’s missed cut.
He matched Semikawa’s scorecard by recording a total of four birdies and two bogeys.
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Former champion Hideki Matsuyama managed only an even-par 70, sharing T67 place with Kensei Hirata.
Ryo Hisatsune, making his first start as a PGA Tour rookie, was among the four Japanese players who could not complete their play due to a suspension caused by fading light.
Hisatsune sits one-under with two holes remaining, but the trio of Aguri Iwasaki (T122, three-over through 16), amateur Rintaro Nakano (T127, four-over through 14), and Takumi Kanaya (T132, five-over through 15) have their work cut out for them to advance to the weekend rounds.
