Former winner Shaun Norris overcame a shaky start to shoot a three-under-par 68 and share the eighth spot in the first round of the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup on Thursday.
The 41-year-old South African went through an eventful opening three holes at the Shishido Hills Country Club, the course he conquered back in 2017, as he sandwiched a birdie in between two bogeys.
However, Norris swiftly steadied the ship by making a pair of birdies on the fifth and sixth holes before picking up two more shots on 14 and 16 to trail leaders Ren Yonezawa and Takumi Kanaya by four shots.
Norris, a six-time Japan Golf Tour winner, was pleased to have got his best start of the season and will be looking to keep the momentum going. He has struggled to impress in his first three appearances thus far where a tied-28th at last week’s Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open was the best outing he could manage.
“It’s good to be back. I really enjoy this golf course. I’ve got really good memories out here, so just trying to get myself back into enjoying the game again,” said Norris.
Once a regular starter on the Japan Golf Tour, Norris has been making fewer trips to Japan over the last 18 months as he opted to stay close to his family after welcoming his second child last year. But the fans will certainly be seeing him more in the latter season as he confirmed that he has signed up for the Hana Bank Invitational, Japan Players Championship and Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup next month.
“I’ve been bouncing around a little baby girl back home, so it’s quite hard now. She’s just over a year old now, so it’s a lot harder,” said Norris. “Travelling with my son, I can still get away with it, but with a little baby girl, I feel like it’s a lot harder. I want to be home more often. It’s quite tough, but I’m actually planning on trying to be out here a little bit more.
“I always love Japan, and my family loves it too. So the kids are now getting to that age where granny and grandpa can look after them for a couple of weeks, so my wife can come with me. So that’s the plan, let’s see how it goes.”
