ISPS Handa Championship First-Round Leader Tips: 50/1 Jazz gets the vote in Japan

• 50/1 Jazz Janewattananond has been starting fast

• 80/1 Shugo Imahira is a recent Japan Tour winner

• 50/1 Keita Nakajima was 12th in a classy ZOZO field

Weather forecast for Thursday: It's a cloudy day in Omitama which lies around an hour away north on the train from Tokyo.

Winds look particularly light in the morning but could freshen towards 10mph in the afternoon. That's certainly not enough to put me off a p.m. starter though. Temperatures are pleasant (70s).

Jump in for Jazz

Jazz Janewattananond played a full season on the Japan Tour in 2019 and racked up a string of top fives.

And he seemed to enjoy his return to the country in 2021 when opening the Olympic Men's Golf tournament with a 64 to sit second after day one.

I'm hoping for something similar this week when he sets foot on Japanese soil once more and his recent form suggests he could hit the ground running again after a trio of top six finishes on the Asian PGA Tour.

In the first of those, Jazz opened with a 65 to lie third after 18 holes in the International Series Thailand while he showed his ability to go low with a 62 in round two of last week's International Series Vietnam.

With confidence high, the Thai looks a decent shout at 50/1 to have a piece of the first-round lead. He tees off at 11.50am local.

Shugo looks boss

Shugo Imahira has achieved plenty so far since turning pro as a teenager even though many expected more when he hit 30th in the world rankings at the start of 2020.

He's played in all four majors, shot a 68 on his Open debut in 2016 and took tied 44th in the 2020 Masters on his second start at Augusta National.

The 30-year-old has eight Japan Tour wins now and the most recent came earlier this month when he fired 20-under to land the Token Homemate Cup.

Imahira paved the way with an opening 64 which gave him the first-round lead. He was also topped the day one leaderboard in last October's Panasonic Open.

He's twice opened with 66s in the four events he's played on this week's course so, for a former top 30 player on the OWGR, the Japanese star looks a fair bet at 80/1 for FRL.

Imahira gets his tournament underway at 12.30pm.

Nab Keita at 50s

I'm expecting the European contingent to show their class over 72 holes but plenty are rusty and could be upstaged in the first 18.

In which case I'll back another home player and go for former World Amateur No.1 Keita Nakajima.

Nakajima won the Japan Tour's Panasonic Open when still an amateur and played in three of the four majors in 2022.

Notably, he managed tied 12th in the co-sanctioned ZOZO Championship in October so having outscored many of the PGA Tour stars, he'll have the confidence to take on and beat the DP World Tour players on show here.

He tees it up on the back of a pair of top 10s on the Japan Tour and in his one start at this week's cours, Nakajima posted fifth place in the Heiwa PGM Championship back in October after shooting 66-64 to take the halfway lead.

The 22-year-old, a morning starter at 7.35am, is 50/1 to hold the day one lead.