Kazuki Higa will attempt to become only the fifth player to claim the Shinhan Donghae Open title more than once after he fired a seven-under-par 65 to snatch a one-shot lead over Zimbabwean Scott Vincent after the third round on Saturday.
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Starting the round tied for sixth, the 2022 JGTO Money Ranking champion and seven-time JGTO winner, began strongly with two birdies in his first three holes.
He dropped his only shot of the day on the par-four sixth but responded quickly with another birdie on eight. The 30-year-old then stormed up the leaderboard with five birdies on holes 10, 14, 15, 16 and 17 to sign for a three-day total of 14-under-par 202.
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“I think today was pretty much a perfect round,” said Higa, who won the Shinhan Donghae Open in Japan in 2022.
“I had one bogey, but that was because my drive went left and ended up right next to a tree root—it was unplayable. Even then, I managed to give myself a par chance, so overall, it was a stress-free round.”
When asked about his strategy for Sunday, Higa said: “I’ll try not to force anything tomorrow and focus on how the others in my group are playing. Since the leaderboard is tight, a lot of players will have a shot at winning. I just want to manage my game well and avoid any mistakes that could cost me the lead.”
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Vincent was also pleased with his day’s effort as he heads into the final round, just one shot back of Higa at the 41st edition of the tournament, which is tri-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), Korean Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) and Asian Tour.
“Awesome, just really, really awesome,” said Vincent about his best round of the week, which featured seven birdies. “Tee to green was strong and great, and just gave myself a lot of chances. And, you know, made a few of those. Didn’t really put myself in any spots that caused too much stress.”
