Iwasaki on the brink of another victory 

Aguri Iwasaki put himself into a good position of clinching his second win in three weeks after posting a three-under-par 68 to head into the final round of the Vantelin Tokai Classic with the share of the third round lead with Yusaku Hosono.
 
Iwasaki, 26, will start his final round with a one-shot advantage over the rest of the chasing pack together with Hosono after they signed for matching three-day total of 12-under-par 201.
 
Yusuke Sakamoto fired the day’s lowest round of 64 to share third place with Takahiro Hataji while Justin De Los Santos of the Philippines stayed in the hunt for his JGTO breakthrough with a 65 to end the day tied for fifth with Takumi Kanaya, Shugo Imahira and Takanori Konishi.
 
Fresh from his second JGTO victory at the ANA Open a fortnight ago, Iwasaki made his early statement of intent with an opening birdie. He dropped a shot on the third hole but recovered quickly with a pair of birdies on holes four and five.
 
He spoilt his card with another two bogeys on seven and 10 but charged back strongly with three birdies on holes 11, 12 and 17 at the Myoshi Country Club.
 
"I managed to save good pars on 15 and 16, and even though my front nine wasn’t great, I kept it together. I missed quite a few tee shots and iron shots to the left, but I worked on fixing those mistakes throughout the round."
 
"I’m just going to focus on playing well tomorrow. If I can win, that would be great, but I’m not putting too much pressure on myself," said Iwasaki.
 
Sakamoto, meanwhile, enjoyed a blemish-free round to find himself back teeing off in the final group on Sunday for the second successive week. Having experienced being in contention where he eventually finished tied-fourth at the Panasonic Open last week, the 26-year-old now hopes for a better result.
 
"It's generally a course for draw hitters, but I actually like playing here. I think it’s a course that tests your shot-making abilities, especially on the 16th hole where I need to avoid hitting left."
 
“Playing in the final group on the last day (at the Panasonic Open) was a great experience. I really wanted to win, but I became too aggressive. It was a good experience that helped me carry the momentum into this week."
 
"I’ve reset my mindset, and if I can play like I did today, that would be great. I’ll just try to go as low as I can," said Sakamoto.
 
Leading third round scores
All Japanese unless indicated otherwise
201 - Aguri Iwasaki 68-65-68, Yusaku Hosono 66-66-69
202 – Yusuke Sakamoto 68-70-64, Takahiro Hataji 64-69-69 
203 – Justin De Los Santos (PHI) 66-72-65, Shugo Imahira 69-65-69, Takanori Konishi 66-68-69, Takumi Kanaya 70-67-66
 
Ends.