Shaun Norris shot the low round of the day on Friday in the second round of the Japan Open Golf Championship as his seven-under-par 64 saw him hit the front at the halfway mark at Biwako Country Club.
Norris made three birdies in a row ahead of the turn on seven, eight and nine to turn in three-under 32, and a fourth birdie immediately after the turn followed. He picked up two more on 13 and 14, and then he sandwiched his only bogey of the day on 17 with birdies on 16 and 18.
His 64 was one better than a pair of 65s from Jinichiro Kozuma who ended the day in a share of third on 10-under and from Yuki Inamori who was in seventh on eight-under.
Norris shared the lead with Yuta Ikeda, who added a five-under-par 66 to his opening 65 to move to 11-under.
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent signed for a second-round one-under-par 70 to move to four-under for the tournament at the halfway mark in a share of 21st.
The Japan Open is one of the three richest tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour, with a prize fund of over R27-million in 2021; it is also the tour’s designated ‘flagship event’ for the purposes of the Official World Golf Ranking, with a minimum winner’s points allocation of 32 points. The winner also receives an invitation to the following year’s Open Championship. Founded in 1927, it is one of the oldest tournaments in Japan.
