Shaun Norris made seven birdies and dropped just two shots on Thursday on his way to a five-under-par 67 and 12 points in the modified stableford scoring system in use in the Japan Golf Tour’s For the Players By the Players tournament in Gunma, Japan.

With five points for eagle, two points for birdies, minus one for bogeys, and minus three for doubles or worse, aggressive golf is encouraged, and Norris took advantage of being given a license to play the kind of game he likes. He ended up in a share of ninth place after the first round, three points behind the leaders Naoyuki Kataoka and Yusaku Hosono of Japan. They each carded seven-under-par 65s. Hosono was bogey-free, and Kataoka made just a single bogey.

Four players were on 14 points, and there were two on 13. Norris shared ninth with two other players.