Justin delos Santos signed a one-under par 69 in Saturday’s penultimate round of the Japan Tour’s Mitsui Sumimoto Visa Taiheiyo Masters at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course in Shizuoka.
The 28-year-old is now tied for sixth after a 205 total, seven strokes off the frontrunner.
Delos Santos opened strong with birdies on the first, third and 15th. But he ran out of steam down the stretch following bogeys on the 16th and 18th.
Fellow Filipino Juvic Pagunsan limped with 70 for joint 59th with a five-over total of 215 with one round to go in the 200-million-yen tournament.
Japanese Shugo Imahira is lording it over by two shots following a five-under-par 65.
Imahira will protect a two-shot lead over Taiki Yoshida who finished with a 68, while another hometown bet Tomoyasu Sugiyama is three strokes further despite a massive six-under-par 64 performance in the third round.