Song sings the right tune to take early lead at season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup

Korea’s Song Yong-han took an early stride towards ending his two-year title drought on the JGTO by carding a bogey-free seven-under-par 63 to take the first round lead at the season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup on Thursday.
 
The 34-year-old Korean leads a tournament for the first time this season, where he has notched four top 10 finishes. His last win on the JGTO dates back to 2023, where he won the Sansan KBC Augusta. 
 
Song came close to winning again at the Mizuno Open but had to settle for a tied-second finish. He will now start the second round of the no-cut event – which features only the Tour’s top-30 players – with a two-shot advantage over Yusaku Hosono and Takashi Ogisa, who signed for identical 65s at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club.
 
The Korean opened his campaign brightly with a birdie on the par-four first. After marking his card with four straight pars, he reeled in a pair of birdies on the sixth and seventh holes before picking up another gain on the ninth hole.
 
After turning in 31, he extended his advantage with another birdie on 13, followed by another pair of birdies on 16 and 17 before saving par at the last to set the early pace on a golf course which he rates as a very challenging one.
 
“It’s rare to post such a good score on a tough course like this. So, I’m happy. My shots were good today, the putts went in, and that made the score what it was,” said Song.
 
Song’s putting touch proved to be the defining factor on a day where he drained an 11-metre birdie putt at the opening hole and followed that with a five-metre par save at the second. After getting into trouble on the 10^th hole, he sank another long putt to stay bogey-free.
 
“The putter really contributed today. On the first I made a long, tough putt, and on the second, another difficult par putt dropped. Then at 10, I holed something over 10 metres again. It really felt like everything was going in,” said Song.
 
Despite taking the early lead, the Korean prefers to remain grounded and managing expectations.
 
“There are still three days to go. Today everything went in, but there will be days when nothing does. For now, I’m happy.
 
“I didn’t play as well as I wanted this year. It was frustrating, but qualifying for the JT Cup was a positive. Since this is the last event, I just want to enjoy it. 
 
“Only the 30 players who worked hard all year get to be here. It’s enjoyable and it feels relaxed, but because it’s also a major, you definitely want to play well.”
 
Current money ranking leader Kota Kaneko, meanwhile, signed for a 72 to end the day in tied 23^rd place.
 
Leading first round scores
63 – Song Yong-han (KOR)
65 – Yusaku Hosono, Takashi Ogiso
67 – Hiroshi Iwata
68 – Takumi Kanaya, Mikiya Akutsu, Suguru Shimoke, Ryosuke Kinoshita, Taiki Yoshida
 
*All Japanese unless indicated otherwise