Yosuke Asaji leads Asian Amateur Championship

Home player Yosuke Asaji holds a one shot lead in the Asian Amateur Championship after an opening 67 at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Japan.

Yosuke Asaji
Fergus Bisset
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Home player Yosuke Asaji holds a one shot lead in the Asian Amateur Championship after an opening 67 at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Japan.

Asaji returned four birdies and no bogeys in an impeccable first round over Kasumigaseki's excellent, Selichi Inoue designed, West Course. The young Japanese player leads from a group of four men composed of his: countryman Hideki Matsuyama, Australian Jake Higginbottom and the early pace-setters from Korea, Jae-Hyeok Lee and Il-Hwan Park.

The South Korean pair played in the morning session and both were satisfied with their early work. "I am pleased," said Lee. "There is a long way to go, but it is a good start." Park was quick to point out how significant a good performance in this event could be with the winner given an invitation to the 2011 Masters and the first and second-placed finishers earning a spot in International Final Qualifying for the Open Championship. "This tournament gives me a chance to make my dreams come true, so I really want to do well," he said.

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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