Yusaku

Miyazato

Like Jamieson, he’s playing the course for the first time but it proved no problem as the pair moved into a one-shot lead over a big group at -4. Miyazato has held 11 first-round leads on his home Japan Tour and repeated the feat for the first time on the European Tour when firing a Thursday 65 at November’s Hong Kong Open. He showed his fast-starting qualities again today with an outward 32 which featured gains at 2, 3, 7 and 9 before adding further red circles at 10 and 14. The solo lead looked likely at that stage but he slipped up with bogey-5 at 15 and closed with three pars. Miyazato finished T15 in Hong Kong and made it two top 25s from his opening four events of the season with T22 in the Saudi International on his latest appearance.

The Japanese star is no stranger to the top of an early leaderboard in his home country. Indeed he has 11 of them and twice in the last four occasions it has led to victory for the seven-time champion on the Japan Tour. Four of those successes came last year alone, but none this year as he concentrated on the European Tour. There were four early top 30s, but then only one in his last 12 starts. On this day in China, however, he was in sparkling form. He started on the back nine and ticked the 10th, 13th and 15th. Another three came on the front nine at the first, fourth and seventh to leave him briefly alone at the top, but a bogey at No. 9 saw him fall back into a tie with Aaron Rai and Jason Scrivener.

If the Miyazato name rings a bell, it should. He is the older brother of LPGA star Ai. He’s made a little noise of his own. He is one of two players in PGA TOUR history to record two holes-in-one during the same round. That occurred in the second round of the 2006 Reno-Taho Open on the seventh and 12th holes. He joined Bill Whedon, who accomplished the feat way back in 1955.

World No. 149 is 4-for-8 here at the Sony Open, posting nothing better than a T40 (2008) in the process. Miyazato calls the Japan Golf Tour home and has won three times on his home circuit. Most recently was the 2015 Dunlop Phoenix Open where he outlasted Hideki Mastuyama to hoist the trophy. His lack of anything better than a T40 in eight tries here makes him a long shot to contend this week.

The 35-year-old trailed money leader K.T. Kim by nearly 62 million yen, but Miyazato was more concerned about relinquishing the 2-hole as Yuta Ikeda was a little over 4.5 million yen back in third. It’s an important position as the top two in JGTO earnings received exemptions into the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship and The Open Championship in 2016. Miyazato will be making his debut at Trump National Doral. He’s 0-for-1 at the season’s third major (2014). This is easily his best effort on his home circuit as he placed inside the top 10 on the OOM just once before (seventh, 2013). This year, he won once (Dunlop Phoenix) and logged another eight top 10s. Miyazato’s sister, Ai, is a nine-time winner on the LPGA, but devotees might remember Yusaku better as converting two holes-in-one in his second round of the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open. He was the second to achieve the feat on the PGA TOUR. Brian Harman became the third with a pair of 1s in his finale of The Barclays in 2015.

Only four (of 66) players rank outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including Miyazato, who tips-in at No. 101. He’s in the exclusive no-cut field after finishing second on the Japan Golf Tour’s Order of Merit in 2015 with one win among nine top 10s. The 35-year-old is making his 14th career start on the PGA TOUR -- second this season after T70 at the Sony Open -- and perhaps is best remembered in the States carding two holes-in-one in R2 of the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open. This week’s maiden tour of the Blue Monster is also his first in a WGC event and he warmed-up with a T15 four weeks ago at the Myanmar Open on the JGTO.

World No. 64 arrives with top 20s in four of his last five worldwide starts (two European Tour starts, two Japan Golf Tour starts). Last week, he withdrew mid-tournament at the BMW PGA Championship. For his career on the PGA TOUR, he is 10-for-23 but nothing better than a T21 at the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open. A seven-time winner across the globe, Miyazato would love to finally have that success translate to the big stage.

Quietly the Japanese player is 75th on the Race to Dubai. It’s quite a stealth move built on just a handful of starts, but T27 in the Maybank Championship, T9 in the World Super 6 Perth, T12 in the Open de Espana and T13 in the Trophee Hassan II, plus two checks for turning up at the WGC events (T60 in Mexico, T52 in the Dell Match Play) have done the trick. He might be a player to keep a close eye on, perhaps one week pulling a Satoshi Kodaira on the European Tour, but quite which week it will be is a tricky one. Withdrew from Wentworth after an opening 80 and made the cut in the Memorial (T70). Not seen since.

No. 1 on the Japan Golf Tour’s order of merit, Miyazato won four times in 2017 on his home circuit. The 37-year-old could definitely be classified as a late bloomer since he entered 2017 with three career wins on his resume. Miyazato is no stranger to the Sony Open, either, as he will be making his 10th appearance at Waialae Country Club. In the past, the best he’s pieced together is a T40 finish (2008). His lack of success here suggests he is an easy fade for fantasy gamers but a breakout season could also lead to a career-best finish at Waialae Country Club.

The 37-year-old Japanese veteran (who made two aces in the same round at the 2006 PGA Tour Reno-Tahoe Open) was a fringe performer on his home tournament until breaking through with a first victory in 2013, but only last year, with four wins, did he truly come good. Vaulted high in the world rankings he did what Brandt Snedeker attempted at the end-of-year Indonesian Masters: Got an invite, played to smash the world top 50, did so, earned a Masters spot. Has played only three European Tour events: Three Opens, each with one lap of at least 77 and not one cut made. He’s 7-for-16 on the PGA with a best of T21 when he made those two holes-in-one. T5 in last week’s Myanmar Open.