Japan’s Taihei Sato fired a 62 marred by a single bogey at the par-3 4th hole to join the tie at the top of the leaderboard at the ISPS HANDA Championship at Taiheiyo Club.
“I’ve been hitting it well for the past two days so I’m feeling good,” said Sato.
“The DP World Tour is a very special tour for me. As this tournament is being conducted in Japan I want to do my best and get a good result.”
England’s Sam Bairstow set the early target with a 64 featuring an eagle at the par-5 18th and a bogey at the 6th to reach 10-under after completing round 1 earlier in the morning following a fog delay on Thursday.
“Very solid, yesterday with the delay it was nice to finish with a couple of birdies then come out this morning to finish strong and take it into the second round,” said Bairstow.
“I’ve played 18 alright today, so hopefully keep doing that. Hit a couple of nice shots, holed a couple of putts.
“Just keeping things simple, sometimes you can overthink it. Keeping my swing feels and putting stroke simple, and trying to enjoy it.”
Overnight co-leader Yannik Paul of Germany closed with a 65 that featured three consecutive birdies from the 1st to retain a share of the lead while Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg joined them with a 64.
England’s Matthew Southgate and France’s Tom Vaillant are tied in fifth place at 8-under alongside overnight co-leader Taiki Yoshida of Japan who is currently 8-under through 15 holes.
Round 2 was suspended due to darkness and will restart at 0620 local time on Saturday.
