Yonezawa’s late birdie blitz lifts him to the summit

Ren Yonezawa birdied his closing two holes to seize the outright lead with his second round five-under-par 65 at the Maezawa Cup on Friday.
 
The two-time JGTO winner has not dropped a shot in his last 36 holes and continued his solid run after starting the day one shot back of overnight leader Ryuichi Oiwa, who slipped to tied-fourth after signing for a 69. 
 
Yonezawa picked up five birdies at MZ Golf Club in Chiba Prefecture for a two-day total of 13-under-par 127 to lead New Zealand’s Michael Hendry by one shot at the inaugural event.
 
When asked about his performance over the last two days, the 25-year-old said: “I think it went really well because I was able to play bogey-free for both days. The pin positions on the front nine were really tough, and I couldn't make birdies for a while.
 
“But I managed to get some good birdies midway through, so I think I can play with confidence from tomorrow onward.”
 
Hendry, meanwhile, is looking forward to giving his younger rivals a run for their money as the 45-year-old chases his third JGTO title.
 
“I feel really comfortable with all aspects of my game, and hopefully I can take that into the weekend. I hope to score well again and have a great week,” said the New Zealander.
 
Leading second round scores
*All Japanese unless indicated otherwise
127 – Ren Yonezawa 62-65
128 - Michael Hendry (NZL) 63-65
129 – Shugo Imahira 66-63
130 - Yuki Inamori 63-67, Yosuke Tsukada 66-64, Mikumu Horikawa 66-64, Ryuichi Oiwa 61-69, Takashi Ogiso 66-64, Tomohiro Ishizaka 67-63