Teeing it up for fourth time since heading back to the Japan Golf Tour, Quayle fired a nine-under 61 on the opening day of the historic The Crowns tournament.

Played this week on the Wago Course of Nagoya Golf Club, The Crowns has previously been won by major winners Seve Ballesteros, Davis Love, Darren Clarke and Justin Rose.

Opening with three straight birdies, Quayle added six more during the first round, including two in a row to finish his round, the 2022 Queensland PGA winner sleeping on a two shot lead over Daiki Imano.

Quayle currently sits in 21st on the Japanese Order of Merit, helped by his share of sixth last week at the ISPS Handa Championship, while his fellow Aussies Brad Kennedy and Andrew Evans are both at four-under after Thursday, the pair sharing ninth.

The joint runner-up at this event in 2018, Quayle is looking to join an illustrious list of Australian winners of The Crowns, including Brendan Jones, Roger Mackay, Peter Senior, Greg Norman, David Graham, Graham Marsh and Peter Thomson.