Song takes flight at Panasonic Open Golf Championship

Since his triumphant return at the Sansan KBC Augusta four weeks ago, South Korean golfer Song Young-han has been on a roll.

The 32-year-old exhibited his form once again, carding a splendid nine-under-par 63 on Thursday. This performance catapulted him to share the top spot in the inaugural round of the Panasonic Open Golf Championship held at Onotoyo Golf Club in Hyogo.

Kicking off his round at the 10th tee, Song notched birdies on four of his first six holes and added another to conclude the half with a 31.

 In the back nine, he tallied four additional birdies, matching the score of Ryutaro Nagano, whose round also dazzled with a bogey-free card featuring nine birdies.

Song's recent victory at the Sansan KBC Augusta was his second win on the JGTO tour, marking the end of a title drought that dated back to the 2016 SMBC Singapore Open.

He then built on this momentum, clinching strong top-25 placements in the following events.

Song claimed a fine second-place finish at the ANA Open, where he finished one shot back of eventual champion, Hideto Tanihara.

"I've been feeling good since the start of this season and thought I could capitalise on the opportunities. However, my short game, especially in the first half of the season, wasn't on point, so I couldn't score well," said Song.

"But gradually, especially with my putter, my short game improved, and I felt I could score. I performed well in the KBC and also last week in the ANA.

"Of course, I want to win for the second time this year, but there are still 54 holes to play. I'll focus on giving my best from tomorrow and hope to play through to Sunday."

Nagano could not have asked for a better start to the week as he had only recovered from a back strain, which forced him to skip last week's stop in Hokkaido.

Nagano earned the top spot for the first time since the Kansai Open in April. At that time, he led the first two days before settling for solo fifth.

"I hurt my back last Tuesday, I got it treated, but it was completely unfeasible for me to compete (in the ANA Open)," said Nagano.

"I do get affected by back pain every now and then. It's scary, but since I've always had it, I just carry on playing whilst coping with it."

American Todd Baek and Taiga Nagano are another shot behind, both carding seven-under-par 65s.

Baek was thrilled to position himself high up on the leaderboard after a long time and hopes to build on it.

"I played well today and gave myself a lot of opportunities. I hit the ball exceptionally well; I believe I missed just one fairway and one or two greens. Overall, I'm pleased with how I performed. It's been a while since I've had a good game, and I felt great," said the 31-year-old, who has only secured one top-10 finish this year.

"I haven't been at my best this year, so I'm not putting any pressure on myself. My goal is to create as many opportunities as possible and see where that takes me."

Defending champion Taiga Semikawa and 2021 winner Keita Nakajima both carded a 71, positioning them in a tie for 54th place, eight shots off the lead.

Leading first round scores:

63: Ryutaro Nagano, Song Young-han (Kor);

64: Tsubasa Ukita;

65: Taiga Nagano, Todd Baek (US);

66: Mikiya Akutsu, Ren Yonezawa, Tomohiro Kondo;

67: Takashi Ogiso, Lee Sang-hee (Kor), Tomoyasu Sugiyama, Ryo Katsumata.