Saitama, Tokyo, September 20: Danthai Boonma took advantage of a hot start as he fired an opening six-under-par 65 to trail the leader Daijiro Izumida by two shots at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup on Thursday.

The bubbly Thai started with four straight birdies before adding five more birdies against three bogeys to stay hot on the heels of home talent Izumida who produced a superb 63 at the Musashi Country Club.

Danthai, a winner on the Asian Tour, shared second place alongside Yuki Inamori and Hiroshi Iwata while Thai veteran Prayad Marksaeng was a further shot back in fifth place at the JP¥150 million (approximately US$1.35 million) event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO).

In-form players Gaganjeet Bhullar of India, Justin Harding of South Africa and Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe were among nine players bunched in sixth place on matching 67s.

The story of the day belonged to the 25-year-old Izumida, who continued his momentum following his career’s first victory on the JGTO last month. He superbly turned in 30 on the front nine and returned three birdies against one bogey to set the pace.

Danthai was on track to challenge Izumida’s morning target but the Thai struggled to maintain his charge after his tee shots on holes 14, 18 and four landed in the thick rough which resulted in bogeys.

Prayad, a 10-time Asian Tour champion and multiple winner in Japan, traded six birdies against one bogey to give himself a chance of winning the tournament for the second time since 2008.

Did you know?

• Izumida birdied his opening two holes before adding four straight birdies from the 14th hole. The superb start gave him a confidence boost after feeling anxious in the practice round.
• He won his first JGTO title at the RIZAP KBC Augusta last month. The victory came after missing three straight cuts in Japan.
• Izumida totalled 24 putts which included seven straight one putts from his opening 10th hole.
• Danthai is known for his happy-go-lucky character. He wielded a hot putter and negotiated around the greens in 22 putts as he launched his search for a second Asian Tour win.
• He has two runner-up results so far in 2018 and is currently ranked 16th on the Habitat for Humanity Standings. He needs to break and stay inside the top-10 of the rankings before the cut-off date on October 7 to qualify for the CIMB Classic in October.
• After making his Major debut at The Open in July, Danthai said the experience has helped him to become a better player.
• He hopes to follow in the footsteps of countryman Thanyakorn Khrongpha who won in Japan two weeks ago.
• At the age of 52, Prayad rolled back the years with a commendable performance among the younger players. He has won five titles on the Japan Seniors Tour in 2018 and will be looking to add a second Diamond Cup trophy following his win in 2008.
• The Asian Tour’s in-form players are lurking closely behind the leader. Bhullar, who won his ninth Asian Tour title last month, is four shots back alongside last week’s runner-up Vincent and Harding, who won twice in his first two starts on the Asian Tour this year.

Player quotes:

Daijiro Izumida (Jpn) – First Round 63 (-8)

It was almost a perfect round because of my ball striking and putting. I didn’t have high expectations. During the practice round I was a bit anxious but it turned out really well.

Making two birdies really got me going and it helped me feel comfortable. I haven’t done anything special since my win. I’m playing with more confidence and the win has helped me to be more aggressive.

The course is not too long so there are some holes where I won’t need to hit a driver. I’ll try to use a two or three-iron. I do dream to play outside of Japan. If I win this tournament or get a good result it will open up many doors for me and that’s my motivation.

Today was much better than I expected. There will be times when I will need to stay patient especially when I put the ball in the rough. On those occasions I need to stay patient.

Danthai Boonma (Tha) – First Round 65 (-6)

I played very good because of my putting. I started with four birdies in a row and that gave me a lot of confidence. My tee shots weren’t that good and the three bogeys today came after I hit it in the thick rough.

Yes, after those birdies I thought it will be a very good day but I kept myself calm and not get ahead of myself. I had fun and kept smiling. Hole number two was good because I hit a nice approach to 15 feet and I holed it.

Playing at The Open has helped me a lot in my career. After The Open I returned and trained harder. I think that has really helped me.

Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) – First Round 66 (-5)

This is my first time playing on this golf course. The rough is very thick here so you need to hit good tee shots. Luckily it isn’t a long golf course. I’ve won five times on the senior Tour but this is different. I’m usually more relaxed on the senior Tour because there’s no rough but here I have to more focus. My body feels good and I won this tournament before in 2008 but on a different golf course.

Scores after round 1 of the Asia-Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup being played at the par 71, 7060 Yards Musashi GC course (am – denotes amateur):

63 – Daijiro IZUMIDA (JPN).

65 – Yuki INAMORI (JPN), Danthai BOONMA (THA), Hiroshi IWATA (JPN).

66 – Prayad MARKSAENG (THA).

67 – Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN), Kenichi KUBOYA (JPN), Justin HARDING (RSA), Kurt KITAYAMA (USA), Scott VINCENT (ZIM), Atomu SHIGENAGA (JPN), Shingo KATAYAMA (JPN), Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND), Kazuhiro YAMASHITA (JPN).

68 – Yosuke ASAJI (JPN), Rahil GANGJEE (IND), Poom SAKSANSIN (THA), Shugo IMAHIRA (JPN), Sanghyun PARK (KOR), Keith HORNE (RSA), Tomoyo IKEMURA (JPN).

69 – Anthony QUAYLE (AUS), Takashi OGISO (JPN), Angelo QUE (PHI), Keita NAKAJIMA (am, JPN), John CATLIN (USA), Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND), Daisuke MATSUBARA (JPN), Hosung CHOI (KOR), Rikuya HOSHINO (JPN), Ryosuke KINOSHITA (JPN), Yuta IKEDA (JPN), Jbe KRUGER (RSA), Adilson DA SILVA (BRA), Travis SMYTH (AUS), Masanori KOBAYASHI (JPN), CHAN Shih-chang (TPE).