Beau Hossler battles breezy conditions to lead ZOZO Championship

Many players struggled to master the strong winds at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on Friday, with only 13 managing to break par, while American Ben Taylor had the worst of it, carding an 84.

"That was one of the windiest rounds of golf I've had all year, for sure. That was tough," said Cam Davis, who lies four strokes off the pace after a battling level-par 70.

"I hit my shortest drive of the year probably by 40 yards on the last hole. I can remember the last time I hit driver, driver on a par-4 and still came up short of the green."

Hossler was somehow able to make it look easy, however, a five-under-par 65 handing him a seven-under-par total and a one-shot lead heading into the weekend.

"Playing in whatever, easily 20- to 30-mile an hour winds today was certainly a challenge," Hossler said. "I'd say anything under par was a really quality score, so to shoot 5 under par was incredible."

Lying in second a shot off the pace is Justin Suh, who also managed to best the conditions with a superb 66.

"It just kind of kept on gusting," he said. "You'd get one every five minutes that would come like 40 miles an hour and it was pretty insane."

The PGA Tour staff didn't cut the greens between rounds in anticipation of the strong winds and Suh admitted it was "very necessary".

Three holes in particular - 4, 9 and 12 - proved a nightmare due to being former par-5 holes converted into par-4s that all played right into the wind.

"I tried to take the attitude that a four was like a birdie on those holes," Hossler said.

Home favourite Satoshi Kodaira lies in solo third, two shots back, after a well-played 68, but another local star - former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama - was not able to master the elements on Friday, making consecutive double bogeys on the way to a 76.

It was a similar story for first-round leader Collin Morikawa, who had to settle for a three-over 73 that nevertheless still leaves him firmly in the top 10 and in with a shout over the weekend.

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