Norris piles pressure on Nakajima with solid 65

South Africa’s Shaun Norris fired the day’s lowest score of five-under-par 65 in the penultimate round of the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup to pile the pressure on Keita Nakajima who continues to lead the JGTO season-ending event on Saturday.
 
The six-time JGTO winner trails Nakajima by one shot together with Naoyuki Kataoka in second place after they signed for matching three-day total of 10-under-par 200 at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club.
 
Norris is searching for his first win on the JGTO since 2021 and also looking to become the third international player since Michael Hendry (For the Players By The Players) and Max McGreevy (Dunlop Phoenix) to win in Japan this year.
 
The 42-year-old, who enjoyed five top 10s this season, made a bold statement of intent to end his three-year winless streak by racing out with an outward 30. 
 
He made an early stumble with an opening bogey but picked himself up quickly with four consecutive birdies from his second hole before adding another pair of birdies on holes eight and nine.
 
The South African made another birdie on 10 but lost that momentum with a double-bogey on 11. 
 
After navigating holes 12 and 13 with a birdie and bogey, he parred the next three holes before picking up another gain on 17 followed by a par to set himself up for a titanic battle on Sunday.
 
“I’m not going to hold myself back tomorrow. I’m going for it and it’s about time I do something special on this golf course.  I got to stay patient as this golf course demands a lot of that. When I’m in the right position, I’m going to attack. Fingers crossed, it will all work out tomorrow,” said Norris.
 
Nakajima is wary of the threat, especially from Norris and expects a close battle with 18 holes remaining.
 
“Norris is playing very well and like all of us, he is determined to win. So, I just need to stay focused on what I need to do and build on that.
 
“I didn’t score as well as yesterday, but I managed to consistently hit greens in regulation. Even when I missed the green, I had several tap-in pars with my approaches. It was a stress-free round overall. The bogey I made was due to a misjudgment of the wind on my second shot, so it didn’t bother me much,” said Nakajima who traded three birdies against one bogey for a 68.
 
Leading third round scores
All Japanese nationals unless indicated otherwise
 
199 - Keita Nakajima 65-66-68
200 - Shaun Norris (RSA) 67-68-65, Naoyuki Kataoka 66-65-69
204 - Takumi Kanaya 71-65-68
205 - Taisei Shimizu 69-68-68, 
207 – Mikumu Horikawa 70-71-66, Ryosuke Kinoshita 70-71-66, Taihei Sato 68-72-67, Taiga Semikawa 68-70-69, Hiroshi Iwata 70-67-70
 
Ends.