Tadahiro Takayama came to the club house with 3 under, and at that moment, top portion of the leader board was bunched up. But eventually, Tadahiro became 1T along with Takahiro Hataji and Dylan Perry at the end of the day.

43 years old Tadahiro Takayama started in the morning group, while the maximum instantaneous wind velocity hit 16 meters. But with the gusty wind condition, he played with 5 birdies and 2 bogeys to score 67.

He was making the turn with bogey free 5 under.

"But the outward holes are really tough here. Especially from 4th hole, it is Gotemba's Amen Corner."

On the 510 yards Par 4 6th, wind was blowing against the players from front right side.

"I was okay for making 2 bogeys on 6th and 7th but failing to make the 1.5-meter birdie chance on 8th was very regretful. If I had that birdie, I would be solo leader, but I am just happy that I was able to play well by hitting each and every shot with appreciation."

Until 2017, Tadahiro has kept his Tour Card for 16 consecutive seasons, but due to his eye illness, he has been outside of the rope. He made the comeback in September last year. He declared for special medical exemption and started to play on the Regular Tour since this July's Japan PGA Championship, but he couldn't retain his Tour Seed with in the limited 9 tournaments he made appearance. He was just 540,000-yen short.

"Many praised me that I have gotten so close. Thanks to the press which sent out this news, many tournament sponsors felt sorry for me and has given me the chance to be in the field."

Tadahiro received so many invitations, both on Regular Tours and cub-tour AbemaTV Tours. Thanks to those extra chances, he is now at 29th on the Money Rankings and safely secured his Tour Card for the next season.

"I cannot thank enough for all of the support. Now that I have secured my Card, my goal has stepped up higher. Now my goal is to make my way into the season finale JT Cup. I hope that I could end this year with great happiness, so I must push myself harder to capture that top 30 spot."