Shimoke, Yoshida, Kosaihira head into weekend tied for lead

The 2025 Vantelin Tokai Classic heads into its weekend rounds with a thrilling three-way tie at the top, as Suguru Shimoke, Taiki Yoshida, and Yuwa Kosaihira all sit at eight-under-par 134 after two rounds at Miyoshi Country Club.
 
Shimoke delivered another solid performance on Friday, matching his opening-round four-under-par 67 with six birdies and three bogeys. Despite an early three-putt bogey on the 10th hole that left him momentarily frustrated, the 23-year-old quickly regained his composure, drawing confidence from his strong ball-striking.
 
“I was sulking after the bogey, but since my shots were good, I told myself to keep fighting,” said Shimoke. “It was a three-putt bogey on the first hole, and honestly, I felt really disheartened. But I managed to recover.”
 
He credited steady improvements in his swing over the past two weeks for his current form and emphasised the need for consistency to stay in contention for his breakthrough on the JGTO.
 
“My shots have been gradually improving since last week, and they’ve continued to feel good this week. I always have one round that collapses, and I really want to avoid that. If I can stop it from happening, I think I can finish high on the leaderboard,” Shimoke added.
 
Overnight leader Kosaihira, who closed his second round with a 68, has recovered from a shoulder injury and is relishing the challenge of staying in contention over the weekend.
 
“Last week I was injured, and my mindset was a bit off. This week, I wanted to do things properly. If I don’t win, I can’t play in next week’s BayCurrent tournament, so I want to win and participate,” Kosaihira said.
 
Yasuki Yoshida also surged into a share of the lead with a 66, crediting his success to improvements in his iron play and distance control.
 
“At the start, my tee shots weren’t much better than yesterday, but as the round progressed, I was hitting more fairways and could strike my irons comfortably,” said Yoshida. “I used to think I had to make very small adjustments, like three or five yards, but I realised I can make 10-yard increments by just adjusting the ball position. That simplified things and made it easier to execute.”
 
Leading second round scores
*All Japanese unless indicated otherwise
 
134 – Suguru Shimoke 67-67, Taiki Yoshida 68-66, Yuwa Kosaihira 66-68
135 – Noriyuki Kurogi 69-66, Lee Sang-hee 68-67, Kohei Okada 67-68, Song Yong-han 69-66, Shugo Imahira 68-67
136 – Satoshi Hara 70-66, Tomohiro Ishizaka 69-67