Otsuki and Yoshida keep close distance to Yang and Danthai at Shinhan Donghae Open

Tomoharu Otsuki and Taiki Yoshida spearheaded the Japanese charge as they posted identical four-under-par 68 to trail first-round leaders Yang Ji-ho of South Korea and Danthai Boonma of Thailand by just one shot at the Shinhan Donghae Open in Incheon on Thursday.
 
The 41st edition of the Shinhan Donghae Open, tri-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), Korean Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) and Asian Tour, is being staged at the highly-regarded Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea for the first time since 2014.
 
Otsuki made the most of the par fives, picking up birdies on the third, seventh and 18 holes, while also adding two more at the fourth and ninth holes. 
 
His only blemish came on the 11th, but his steady play kept him firmly in contention in tied-third place as he heads into the second round.
 
“This course has plenty of length and a lot of undulation on the greens, so it’s natural that one or two bogeys can happen. I felt I managed to hang in well today,” said Otsuki.
 
The three-time JGTO winner admitted he was pleasantly surprised to break par on the demanding layout.
 
“Honestly, it’s a very tough course. I’ve seen the scores from when European Tour and LIV events were played here, and I didn’t think such low numbers were possible. So I’m glad I was able to finish under par,” said Otsuki.
 
“The course is long, the fairways have undulations, and the greens are tricky. If you miss in the wrong spots, the approaches and putts become really difficult. I think the key was being able to withstand that.”
 
The 35-year-old also credited the tournament’s preferred lies rule for giving him more opportunities to attack.
 
“With preferred lies in play this week, I was able to hit my second and third shots from good positions, and that definitely helped,” he said.
 
Yoshida, meanwhile, also carded six birdies against two bogeys to match Otsuki’s 68. The 27-year-old was pleased with how he recovered after a shaky stretch in the middle of his round.
 
“I started really well with back-to-back birdies, but after that my shots weren’t quite accurate and I stumbled with three-putts on 13 and 16. On 18, I hit a really good second shot and tapped in for birdie, and from there my ball-striking felt much better,” said Yoshida.
 
He acknowledged that accuracy off the tee and on approaches will be critical this week.
 
“The approaches here can be very demanding because of the lies. I tried to be careful, but I couldn’t really get them close today, so that part still feels a little off,” he said.
 
Still, Yoshida believes he adapted well to the course’s challenges and found positives to build on.
 
“I thought this course would be extremely difficult, but I managed to take advantage of the par fives, which made things easier today. My goal is just to stay sharp with my shots, approaches, and putting. If I can do that, the results will come,” he added.
 
Leading first round scores
67 – Ji-ho Yang (KOR), Danthai Boonma (THA).
68 - Richard T. Lee (CAN), Minkyu Kim (KOR), Tomoharu Otsuki (JPN), Hyung-joon Lee (KOR), Jeung-hun Wang (KOR), Kyong-jun Moon (KOR), Young-han Song (KOR), Sukwoan Ko (CAN), Taiki Yoshida (JPN).
69 – Seong-hun Kwon (KOR), Min-gyu Cho (KOR), Taichi Kho (HKG), Sang-hyun Park (KOR), Suteepat Prateeptienchai (THA), Doyeob Mun (KOR), Ryutaro Nagano (JPN), Ryosuke Kinoshita (JPN), Jinho Choi (KOR).