Osaka: Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai, Thitiphun Chuayprakong and Filipino ace Juvic Pagunsan fired matching 66s to emerge as the highest placed Asian Tour members in the opening round of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup here yesterday.
The trio ended the day in joint third place alongside Australia's Adam Bland and Japan's Takashi Iwamoto, two shots behind front-runner Satoshi Kodaira, also from Japan, at the ¥150 million (approximately US$1.3 million) event, co-sanctioned by the Asian and the Japan Tours.
The 27-year-old Kodaira, who has won thrice on the local circuit, marked his card with seven birdies against a lone bogey to lead by one shot over compatriot Shugo Imahira at the highly-acclaimed Ibaraki Country Club's West course.
Kodaira, who enjoyed the better half of the weather as the skies opened up in the afternoon with continuous rain, was thrilled to begin his title charge with a solid round where he navigated his way around the course with only 23 putts.
"I felt very calm out there. I missed a few tee shots but I made some good recoveries. My approach shots were good. I had some good saves out there too. I hit my tee shots good for all my birdies today," said Kodaira.
Phachara, 17, put up a stellar performance under tough conditions to keep up with the hot pace set by Kodaira. Placed 69th on the Order of Merit, Phachara is aiming for a good result this week to break into top-60 and retain his Tour card for 2017.
"It was really tough out there with the rainy conditions but I think I played my best golf. My main target right now is to finish inside top-60 at the end of the season. Hopefully I can cap a good result this week," said the young Thai.
Thitiphun set the course on fire when he nailed five birdies in his opening six holes. He stumbled with bogeys on seventh and 10 in the rain but recovered with another birdie on 15 for a back nine 35.
"I had a superb start. I hit the ball so good today. I gained a lot of confidence from there," said the 24-year-old Thai.