Golf Central

In this little corner of our site where we introduce you to journeymen to root for, meet Taichiro Kiyota. He might not be obscure much longer, because the up-and-coming Japanese, ranked No. 474 in the world last week, is a breath of fresh air in golf's sometimes stale atmosphere: And he's a birdie machine.

Playing in front of big crowds with Indian star Jyoti Randhawa at the Johnnie Walker Classic, Kiyota fired back-to-back middle rounds of 67 to move into pole position in a big event for the first time in his career. "I initially thought they were supporting me and fed off their energy," Kiyota said, before admitting he might have a restless night sleeping with the lead. "Very much excited, I may not be able to play!"

And Kiyota, a 27-year-old married man from Kumamoto, on Japan's southern island of Kyushu, has a lovely sense of humour. Asked if he would ever consider a second career, Kiyota played to his crowd: "Regarding the second question, my interest now is in cricket" to howls of approval from the Indian and British journalists.

He lost to Kiwi Mark Brown, who had five birdies on the back, while Kiyota had two bogeys to finish tied for second. But even with the tough loss, Kiyota showed classic Japanese acceptance and determination, saying: "Apart from the finish, this has been a rich experience this week, which will be very helpful in my development going forward. I have really enjoyed the experience."

Before this season, Kiyota, 27, had only earned $104,000 on the Asian Tour. Part of that is due to a gambling nature: like a young Asian Phil Mickelson, Kiyota racked up 3.2 birdies per round last season, but had 175 bogeys. When he cuts down on the mistakes, look out.

Just like Angelo Que and Prom Meesawat, we like Taichiro!