Yuta Ikeda's thoughts for winning this Major at Nikko CC is stronger than anyone else on the field says Yuta.
"I really want, no I must win."

His strong will showed on his performance and also in his totally purple outfit he chose for Saturday. Purple is one of his favorite fighting spirit color.
"I don't choose purple unless I am feeling confident. I selected purple for Saturday before this tournament began. I wanted to be able to play my style today with my favorite color. But I found out that the tournament staff's outfit was also purple. I found it funny that why would they choose purple? But thanks to my purple coordination, I was able to play great."

Yuta played with bogey free 7 birdies to jump up on the top of the leader board. He did miss the chances he had on 12th and 13th.
"Nikko CC has really tough greens. I was able to make birdies on the holes I couldn't on the first 2 rounds, so I am happy with the score I made today. My shots are back, and especially my mental enthusiasm is back. I'd say the real Yuta is back."

Yuta Ikeda was busy preparing for the inaugural Japan Players Championship in May. He was literary running around making every part f the tournament preparation.
"It was really difficult and busy to make a tournament from a scratch. My mind was filled with so many task to overcome until it ended in success. Then after it ended, I was kind of worn out. I couldn't get back to my golf until last week. I remembered my experience at Nikko CC in 2003. I was Senior in high school and became Best Amateur at the Japan Open. When I saw the photo taken with the winner Keiichi Fukabori, my motivation came back. I really felt that I want to win this week at Nikko CC, where my golf career made its start. Having the golf fans here is also giving me power. I am really grateful for having the fans with us. Many cheers supported me to perform well today."

Yuta has won consecutively for 10 seasons since his first win in 2009. Now he is onto making it 11 straight.
"During the 10 years, I won Japan Open twice (2014, 2017), but I also want to win this major too. I believe that is my mission."