Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines has set his sights on a top-10 finish at the ASO Iizuka Challenged Golf Tournament on Sunday to get himself back in the right direction following a difficult start to the season.
Pagunsan showed signs of resurgence by carding his lowest round of the week – a five-under-par 67 – to share the 10th spot on 11-under-par 205 – after the penultimate stage at the ASO Iizuka Golf Club on Saturday.
Related: Brad Kennedy knocking on the door again with a 66
Starting the day in tied-27th, the 44-year-old made his move early by holing out for an eagle on the par-five first before collecting two more birdies on the third and sixth holes.
He was pegged back by a bogey dropped on the eighth hole but would go on to gain two back from the inward nine.
Having struggled to impress since returning to Japan in April, Pagunsan was delighted to have rediscovered his form and looks forward to registering his best result yet after seven appearances.
“I’ve been playing badly in the last couple of weeks, so I’m really happy to be playing well this week. Hopefully, I can finish as well as I can tomorrow,” said Pagunsan, who only made his first cut of the year, finishing 64th at the Japan Golf Tour Championship last week.
“I feel like my swing is getting better. That probably contributed to the three solid rounds thus far.
“I will try my best to keep this good momentum going. In golf, anything can happen.”
Pagunsan has not been able to build on the breakthrough JGTO victory at the Mizuno Open last year.
The triumph was his first since he began his JGTO career in 2012.
Pagunsan was lost for words about his struggle, but he was also cool about it.
“After that win, I missed the cut (seven out of eight starts) in many tournaments after that before ending the season with a top-10 finish (tying for eighth at the season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup),” he said.
“And now that I’m back in Japan, I’ve started missing cut again. But that’s natural. When you played bad, you missed the cut.
“It’s definitely a little bit frustrating, but as a professional, you just have to get yourself back up and keep trying again. That’s what I’m doing this week too, and I know the result will eventually come.”
Australia’s Brad Kennedy, meanwhile, left it late to keep himself in contention as he heads into the final round by four shots.
Kennedy carded a third-round 69, his second bogey-free round in as many days, thanks to three late birdies on the back nine.
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The 47-year-old’s solid effort moved him to a three-day total of 15-under-par 201, a three-way tie for third with Taiga Nagano and Kaito Onishi.
Ikemura put himself on the brink of a wire-to-wire victory after firing a 66 to pull three shots clear of second-placed Ryuko Tokimatsu.
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“I’m pretty satisfied with my round today. I know I have a three-shot advantage, but anything can happen in golf, and I will need to continue my focus and play my best. If I can do that, the rest will take care of itself,” said Ikemura.
For Kennedy, being just four shots off the pace, it is definitely far from over as far as the Australian is concerned.
Kennedy, vying to end his four-year title drought on JGTO, knows well enough what’s in store as he has been in a familiar situation on two occasions in the past three weeks.
Back by a strong mental game which led to his solid display of late, Kennedy will be hoping that he can finally translate his good run of results into a coveted fourth JGTO win.
Kennedy was in contention in the final rounds of the Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament and Mizuno Open, only to settle for third and tied fourth, respectively.
He then notched another impressive tied-ninth result in last week’s Japan Golf Tour Championship.
“I’m quite calm this week,” said Kennedy.
“I’m just trying a couple of nice swing thoughts and a couple of mental thoughts that I have been working on over the last three weeks, and it’s coming into play really nicely. My game is getting better.”
