Having done so great on his 3 rd Round, Shota Akiyoshi didn't wait until the end of the tournament to "say goodbye to his bald head promise".
"This should be my last week with bald head."

Last year, he grabbed his 2nd Tour victory, and 2 years ago he finished tied to 6th which gave him his first Tour card. Shota loves this tournament and he also loves this course.

"I am so confident that from anywhere I can get dead to the pin."
The 5-meter birdie putt on the final 18th was the longest birdie putt today.
"On 11 I had about 1 pin length, and 1 meter on 13, 15 and 16 were tap in birdies."

On his 1st Round, he was at 2 under, way below tied to 48th. Then on his 2nd Round, he carded in 65 and climbed up the ladder very quickly.
"Here I feel like I can make birdies easily."
As he said, he has done it and got himself in the great position to defend his title tomorrow.

Last year after he won twice, he didn't get easy on himself and made a promise that he will bald his head until he finishes in top 10 at the tournament. He couldn't clear the task until now, but for last 3 tournaments, he was getting closer to make the deal.
This week he didn't get his hair cut, so it is little longer than bald head, but that was on purpose. He knew that he will do better than top 10 this week and will be able to end the "bald head promise."

But he has another young and talented Srixon player, Rikuya Hoshino just 2 shots behind of him.
"I wish that one of us, the Srixon player will win as the host player, but I will beat him."

Back in his local Kumamoto Prefecture course, when he played privately, he has scored 14 under 58 once. Shota is really looking forward to defending his title and get rid of that "bald head promise" this week.