Darren Clarke battled jet lag to shoot a 6-under-par 66 and take a share of the first-round lead with Ryoken Kawagishi at the Mitsui-Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters on Thursday.
The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland made a solid start from the 10th at Taiheiyo Club, reeling off three birdies before picking up two more shots to make the turn at 31.
Kawagishi, who shared the lead after the first round of last week's Asahi Ryokuken Yomiuri Memorial, highlighted his round with an eagle on the third while Toru Taniguchi was tied for third at 67 with Hideki Kase, Taiwan's Yeh Wei-tze and Nozomi Kawahara.