Juvic Pagunsan held off Japanese Taiga Semikawa to retain a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Golf Partner pro-am tournament at the Toride Kokusai Golf Club in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan on Saturday.
The 45-year-old bogeyed the opening hole but bounced back with seven birdies over a stretch of 10 holes. He finished with six straight pars to shoot a 64.
Unlike in the second round where he made a record 19 putts, Pagunsan used his putter 27 times.
On 19-under, Pagunsan lead Semikawa by a single shot.
The 22-year-old Japanese, who has three victories under his belt, matched Pagunsan’s output.
A closing bogey marred what could have been a flawless round for Semikawa who had one eagle and five birdies.
Yusaku Hosono and Yuki Inamori were tied for third place on 16-under while Taihei Sato was in solo fifth on 13-under.
Hosono, 20, shot a bogey-free 66 while Inamori, 28, fired a 65 behind six birdies against a lone bogey.
The 29-year-old Sato also had a bogey-less round that featured five birdies for a 65.
Bunched on 12-under were Yusuke Sakamoto (64), Tomohiro Kondo (64), Yosuke Tsukada (65), Tatsunori Nukaga (63), Ataru Tokumoto (65), Tomoyo Ikemura (65), Dylan Perry (63), Tomofumi Ouchi (66) and Shiso Go (67).
Justin de los Santos, the other Filipino in the field, carded a 69 to sit on a tie for 38th on — under. He had three birdies against two bogeys.
