Kensei Hirata demonstrated his winning form again when he stunned the rest of his rivals with a sensational 10-under-par 62 to storm up the leaderboard and share the third round lead with overnight leader Kosuke Suzuki at the Shinhan Donghae Open on Saturday.
Related: All good for Kosuke Suzuki at Shinhan Donghae Open
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South Korea’s Chanmin Jung is one shot back of Hirata and Suzuki in outright third following a 63 while Mikumu Horikawa (66) and Tomoyo Ikemura (67) along with Australian Travis Smyth (65) and South Korean Minkyu Kim (66) are a further shot back, in a tie for fourth.
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Fresh from his victory at the weather-shortened Fujisankei Classic last week, Hirata stormed out of the block quickly where he sensationally birdied his first five holes before making another birdie on seven to turn in 30.
Back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 followed by two more birdies on 17 and 18 saw him reach home in 62 – which would have been a course record if not for the preferred lies ruling in play.
“I started off really well and so wanted to see how far I could go. I was just trying to take it easy, and not put pressure on myself and I think that helped me play well until the end.
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“I know tomorrow will be hard as it is always difficult to play well after making such a good score. Very unlikely I will play as well but my approach will be the same: I’ll focus on each shot and do my best,” said Hirata, a four-time JGTO winner.
Meanwhile, Suzuki, chasing his professional career breakthrough, is looking forward to the final round on Sunday as he believes he can still mount a challenge despite signing for a 69 and a three-day total of 16-under-par 200.
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“It’s my first time playing in the final group on the last day, so I’m not sure what to expect. But if I take what I learned today and play without much expectation, I think I’ll get a good result.
“Even though I wasn’t playing well today, I still managed to shoot in the 60s. I take that as a positive sign – that I’m able to play my game even when I wasn’t at my best,” said Suzuki.
