Confident Lee edges closer to JGTO breakthrough

South Korea's Sang Hee Lee stands on the brink of becoming a JGTO winner for the first time since his debut in 2013.

The 30-year-old, who started the day as one of four joint-leaders, birdied his final hole to seize a one-shot outright lead after the third round of the Sansan KBC Augusta on Saturday.

Lee, who had four runner-up finishes on Tour to date, marked his scorecard with six birdies and two bogeys to sign for a four-under-par 68 to move him to 15-under 201, one shot clear of Riki Kawamoto.

Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe lurks just two shots back in joint-third following a 70 to keep his title defence bid alive.

Taichi Nabetani (66) and Tomoyo (68) were the other two players sharing third on 203.

Lee will be hoping to translate his penultimate stage advantage into a long-awaited victory in Japan and mark a successful return from a two-year long absence due to national service.

"Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to do my national service and was assigned for a mission near the border. During those two years, I felt so 'lonely' not being able to hold a club," said Lee.

"It was not until last year's October I got to play golf again. That time, I felt like I was reunited with my long-time lover!

"Now that I put myself in a good position, I'm looking to win again. I'll try to keep my ball in the fairway and make the final push to achieve the desired outcome."

Lee has four wins to his name on Korean Tour, but not since he last won the Maekyung Open in 2017.

But a JGTO victory will certainly be extra special as he had suffered several near misses previously.

In 2018, Lee led the Bridgestone Open in the first three rounds before settling for tied fourth.

Lee also came in outright or joint-second on four occasions the 2017 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, 2016 Mizuno Open, 2015 Japan PGA Championships and 2014 Japan Golf Tour Championship.

“There will definitely be pressure as the leader on the final day. But I’ll try to play my own game and focus on executing each shot at a time. But overall, I’m confident as I’ve been hitting and putting well.

“The goal for tomorrow is get to three-under in the front-nine followed by another three-under in the back-nine. If I can post a six-under score, I got a good chance of winning the tournament,” said Lee.

Just two shots off the pace, Vincent is still very much in the run to become the first player to win two years in succession in the tournament history since Masashi 'Jumbo' Ozaki accomplished it in 1997.

"I'm going to play with all my might for the remaining 18 holes," vowed Vincent after returning a scorecard of four birdies and two bogeys.