Lee lurks as Nakajima and Nagano share lead

American Han Lee gave himself a fighting chance to end an 11-year title drought on the JGTO after firing a third-round eight-under-par 64 at the JAPAN PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP by Sato Syokuhin.

The 45-year-old's impressive effort at the Nishi Nasuno Country Club on Saturday moved him to just two shots off the lead shared by Taiga Nagano and Keita Nakajima on 20-under-par 196.

After reeling off five straight pars, Lee fired two successive eagles on the par-five sixth and par-four seventh before picking up four more shots in the next five holes with birdies on eight, nine, 11, and 12.

Lee parred his remaining six holes to share the third spot with Hideto Tanihara, the Japan Golf Tour Players Committee (JGTPC) chairman, and Riki Kawamoto, at 18-under-par 198.

Nagano, 20, was left ruing a pair of late bogeys on 17 and 18 as she settled for a 67 and let slip an opportunity to claim an outright lead.

“I thought I played pretty well in the front-nine but suddenly the putter just went cold in the back-nine. Those two bogeys at the end cost me the outright lead today. I hope to make up for it tomorrow,” said Nagano.

Meanwhile, there is just no stopping in-form Nakajima as the 23-year-old charged into final-day contention for the fifth consecutive week following a 65.

“I’m feeling very confident with my game right now and hopefully it shows with a win on the day that matters most tomorrow,” said Nakajima.

Lee also expressed his delight at playing solid golf again and intends to ride the momentum to finish as strong as possible.

"The guys on top have been really good for, I think, a couple of weeks now, but for me, who's been struggling a little bit, it's good to see myself shooting some under-par rounds," said Lee, who won the 2012 Mynavi ABC Championship for his sole victory to date.

Asked if he feels pressure to end his more than decade-long wait tomorrow, Lee replied, "No, I think more than pressure, you try to ride the rhythm.

“It's good to see myself shooting a low score, so shooting under today gives me a little bit of confidence. But tomorrow's tomorrow. We'll see what happens."

A thrilling final day battle is expected as Taisei Shimizu (64), Yuta Uetake (66), and Tomoharu Otsuki (67) are tied for sixth, just four shots off the pace.

Philippines' Justin De Los Santos, who held the halfway stage lead with Nagano, could only manage a disappointing 73 as he dropped to a tie for 10th on 202.

Leading third round scores:

196: Keita Nakajima 68-63-65, Taiga Nagano 69-60-67;

198: Han Lee (US) 67-67-64, Hideto Tanihara 67-65-66, Riki Kawamoto 64-68-66;

200: Taisei Shimizu 68-68-64, Yuta Uetake 67-67-66, Tomoharu Otsuki 65-68-67;

201: Eric Sugimoto 64-68-69;

202: Hiroshi Iwata 70-65-67, Yosuke Asaji 67-67-68, Justin De Los Santos (Phi) 66-63-73.