Perennial bridesmaid Toru Taniguchi needed three extra holes to overcome Nobuo Serizawa in the first round of the Japan PGA Matchplay Championship on Thursday.
Taniguchi gave up the early lead to 1996 matchplay champion Serizawa but drew level on the 18th hole of the Nidom Classic Golf Course before taking the match on the third extra hole -- the 375-yard 13th -- to advance to the round of 16 on Friday.
This season's top money earner Hidemichi Tanaka also needed 21 holes to defeat Fiji's Dinesh Chand and joined 1990 champion Naomichi Ozaki, Kazuhiko Hosokawa and Keiichiro Fukabori in the next round.
But Shingo Katayama, who posted his best-ever finish at a major golf tournament with a fourth at the U.S. Open earlier this month took an early exit after going down 2 and 1 to Tsuyoshi Yoneyama over 18 holes.