Max Kieffer taking advantage of local knowledge on Japan return

Max Kieffer is delighted to be creating more memories both on and off the course on his return to Japan after heading into the weekend one shot off the halfway lead at the ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP.

The German followed up an opening round four-under-par 66 with a 65 on Friday to head the chasing pack at PGM Ishioka and put himself in a good position to challenge for a second DP World Tour title.

This week sees Japan become the 51st country to host a DP World Tour event but Kieffer is no stranger to the country after representing Germany at the 2020 Olympics.

And he has the ideal guide to fully experience the Japanese culture this week in his caddie Takashi Ohagen, whose mum is from Japan.

“I love it in Japan, it’s far away from home but it’s worth coming here,” said Kieffer.

“The Olympics was awesome, an incredible experience. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see much of Japan because we were always in the village.

“This time, my caddie is half Japanese, his mum is Japanese, he grew up here and he speaks the language fluently, so he took us to some awesome restaurants.

“We are having a great time. The people are very friendly and the food is amazing.”

Kieffer is bidding to emulate Marcel Siem and Nick Bachem by becoming the third German winner on Tour this season.

He has mixed 11 birdies with just two dropped shots over the first two rounds to reach nine under and paid credit to his short game and putting for his strong start to the week.

“There were some crazy bunker shots yesterday, it was probably the best short game round I ever had,” he added.

“I’m very happy because I didn’t hit the ball very good in the warm up and coming here so I knew I needed to be creative and play the game instead of trying to control it. I did that well.”