Reigning JGTO money ranking champion Takumi Kanaya emerged as the highest placed Japanese after the first round of the Baycurrent Classic by carding a three-under-par 68 to end the day in tied-fourth place at the Yokohama Country Club on Thursday.
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Kanaya is among the 17 Japanese in the PGA TOUR event that features World No. 4 Xander Schauffele, World No. 9 Collin Morikawa, and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama.
The 27-year-old mixed five birdies with two bogeys to trail first-round leaders Max Greyserman, Bud Cauley, and Brian Campbell of the United States by one shot after the trio returned with identical 67s.
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“I think I managed to play pretty well despite the strong winds today,” said Kanaya. “I tried to give my best and focus on every one of the 18 holes.”
He admitted the conditions were more challenging than in the practice rounds but felt he handled them well. “It was really windy out there, but I still felt I was able to perform well under the circumstances,” he said.
Kanaya was also pleased with his ball-striking. “I was able to control the height of my drives and keep them in play. Overall, I struck the ball the way I wanted and it turned out to be a good round.”
Despite coming off his eighth JGTO win at the ANA Open last month, Kanaya remained cautious about getting ahead of himself.
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“It’s only the first day, so I just want to prepare well and make sure I can play another good round tomorrow,” he said.
Kanaya also credited his putting for keeping the momentum going, including a crucial par save on 11.
“I holed some good putts and saved a few important pars, so that part of my game felt solid. It’s a tough hole and my approach didn’t get very close, but being able to walk away with par helped keep the round together,” said Kanaya.
Other Japanese inside the top-25 include Kaito Onishi (T19), Taiga Semikawa and Kota Kaneko (T25).
