Rikuya Hoshino brilliantly birdied the final hole to preserve a one-shot lead heading into the final round of The Crowns as he stayed on course to win his seventh JGTO title.
The 26-year-old, whose last victory came at the Heiwa PGM Championship in October last year, mixed five birdies with a lone bogey on his way to a four-under-par 66, taking him to 11-under-par 199 and one ahead of Hiroshi Iwata, the 2021 champion.
Iwata recovered strongly from a double bogey on the third by responding with six birdies, including three consecutive gains from No. 10-No. 12 and at the last hole, to stay within striking distance for his fifth Tour win.
Taiga Semikawa, already a three-time winner at 22, gives himself a shot at winning his second title of the season after posting a 67 to share the third spot with Mikumu Horikawa at four shots off the pace on seven-under-par 203.
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Massaya Hattori was a stroke further back in outright fifth after signing for a 70, while South African Jbe Kruger had 68 to emerge as the best-placed international player on 206.
With a slim one-shot advantage overnight, Hoshino did well to keep himself atop the leaderboard throughout the day despite facing pressure from the in-form Iwata, who came in fourth at the ISPS HANDA Championship last week.
Hoshino birdied the first, seventh and eighth holes to trade with his only blemish on the par-three fourth for two-under 33 before crossing over to finish in style with further gains on 12 and 18.
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“I was hoping to shoot maybe three or four-under, so I think it’s great that I managed to accomplish that,” said Hoshino.
“The wind was really strong and made things very difficult for us, especially in the first half of the day. Thankfully, I was able to get good momentum by getting a birdie on the par-three seventh. ”
“Iwata was charging hard in the second half, and so did Semikawa as they both kept making birdies to the point that I felt I wasn’t making enough!
“I’m relishing the final battle with them again, the one who can overcome the unpredictable weather, the greens and bunker condition will come up tops.”
