Current No.1 on the Money Rankings, Shugo Imahira is cruising smoothly on to defending his Order of Merit title. Shugo is leader by 2 shots going into the Final Round tomorrow.

It stopped raining, but strong wind was blowing all over the course on Saturday. But Shugo was very clever on course management. On Par 4 8th, his tee shot went way left into the trees and there was no way out to go for the green.
"There were so many branches surrounding the area, and if I hit it too much left of the trees, it would go over the green. I also didn't want it to get caught in the roughs in front of the green. So, I decided that it would be safe to hit on to the hole next to us, the 4th hole."

Shugo chose to hit his 2nd shot onto the fairway on the 4th hole. Then shot his 3rd with 60 degrees wedge to the edge of the green. He couldn't save the 6-meter par putt but made his scar to the smallest it could be from the big trouble he had.

He made 3 birdies on his back nine, but he was also very cautious and making smart adjustments to avoid big mistakes. He changed his swing 3 weeks ago, to weighing more on his right leg.
"That change enabled me to gain 6-7 more yards on my Irons."

So, he took that into consideration wisely and selected his clubs accordingly. On Par 5 18th, he could have challenged to go aggressive for making to the green on 2, he chose to lay up. He intentionally left 80 yards to play, calculated the wind and "chose to hit 75 yards". His decision was perfect, and the ball landed just 1-meter to the pin and made easy birdie to finish the day.

Jung-Gon Hwang is at solo 2nd, 2 shot behind Shugo. Shugo lost to Jung-Gon by 1 shot at MyNAVI SBC Championship 3 weeks ago. That week, Shugo was at his new sponsor Omega's event and at the party, a mental trainer advised him to "imagine putting the winner's jacket on as you play".
"I did imagine that week and it seemed work well, but at the end the winner's jacket went to Jung-Gon. I really regret losing to him, so I really want to win this week."

Shugo did win at the Bridgestone Open this season, but it was shortened to 36-holes due to Typhoon effects.
"It's much satisfying to win by playing all 4 rounds."

Dunlop Phoenix Tournament's winner's jacket is classy plaid.
Shugo would surely have a strong image getting that jacket on until he makes the final putt to make that image come true.

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