Miyazaki, Japan – Luke Donald posted a 6-under 65 on Thursday to grab a share of the lead after the opening round of the Dunlop Phoenix.
Donald was joined atop the leaderboard at Phoenix Country Club by Brendan Jones and Hideto Tanihara.
Koichiro Kawano and Shunsuke Sonoda share fourth place at minus-4, while S.K. Ho and Hirohito Koizumi stand at 3-under 68.
Nicolas Colsaerts and Shingo Katayama are among eight players tied for eighth at minus-2.
Donald had three birdies and two bogeys on his front nine. Around the turn, he posted birdies at the 11th and 14th. The world No. 3 ran off three straight birdies to close out his round.
Jones started with a bogey on No. 10. He erased that mistake with a birdie on the 11th, then carded three more birdies on his first nine. On the front side, Jones birdied the second and eagled the par-5 seventh to grab a share of the lead.
Tanihara also started on the back nine, and posted birdies at 13 and 18. He moved to minus-4 with birdies at two and four, but tripped to a bogey at the sixth. Tanihara birdied his final three holes to post 65.
Last year's winner Toshinori Muto is tied for 16th at minus-1.
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