Kim and Baek hot on Tirawat’s heels

South Korea’s Siwoo Kim and American Todd Baek are ready to pile on the pressure on Thailand’s Tirawat Kaewsiribandit as the Shinhan Donghae Open heads into an exciting climax on Sunday.

World Number 75 Kim lived up to his billing as the highest-ranked player in the field this week when he battled back into contention with four-under-par 67 on Saturday to trail Tirawat by three shots.

Canada's Yonggu Shin and South Korea's Sanghee Lee carded identical 66s to sit four off the pace, one ahead of Baek who also shot a 66 to keep his hopes alive by tying for fifth with Ryosuke Kinoshita and Kazuki Higa.

Kim, a three-time US PGA Tour winner left it late to notch five birdies on his back-nine, including four successive gains from the 10th hole to finish the penultimate stage at the Koma Country Club on 16-under 197.

Kim began the day with a birdie on the first hole, but he would go on to squander two strokes with bogeys on the third and fifth.

The 27-year-old Kim, playing on sponsor's exemption, is making his only second JGTO start since his Zozo Championship in 2019.

"I'm feeling good with my putting, that gave me lots of confidence," said Kim.

"The only thing that I need to work on is probably on my tee shots. I was finding it difficult to gauge the distance with iron shots. I could adapt better on the back nine.

When asked if he's confident of mounting a strong final day challenge, he responded: "Other players play well and the course isn’t easy.

"So, I want to concentrate on my own game without thinking about winning too much. I’d like to replicate my performance over the last two days for tomorrow."

Tirawat took a giant step toward his career's biggest win after extending his lead to three shots.

The 32-year-old followed his back-to-back 64s with another superb 65 to move to 19-under for the week.

Leading the halfway stage by one shot, Tirawat continued his remarkable form by picking up four strokes from his opening six holes to quickly pull away from the chasing packs.

It was not until the 13th before he could secure his fifth birdie of the day to open up a five-stroke lead, but the healthy advantage was being slashed to just two by playing partner Kim the moment he bogeyed the 17th.

However, Tirawat would make up for the setback by rolling in a crucial birdie at the last to restore a decent three-shot cushion.

Tirawat knows very well that he cannot take anything for granted with a player of Kim's calibre being his closest challenger.

"I started well with four early birdies, this helped to set the tone and boosted my confidence. It made the day a little easier," said Tirawat, who won once on the Asian Tour in 2018.

"Although leading, I don't want to think about winning the trophy yet. I just want to focus on my game, feel relaxed and have fun on the course.

"I also enjoyed playing together with PGA Tour player Kim and looking forward to playing another round with him tomorrow. I want to learn as much as possible from him."

If Tirawat goes on to win tomorrow, he will be rewarded with a direct JGTO exemption for the remainder of the current year and a two-year card which is valid through 2024.

Baek, who is chasing an elusive first JGTO victory, is adamant that all is not over yet as he seeks to overturn a five-shot shot deficit.

"Overall, it's a good day, one more round to go, so looking forward to it. I still have a chance," said Baek, whose closest bid at JGTO glory was a tied-second at the Japan Players Championship last year.

"I have been hitting it well all week long. I made some good putts but also missed out on some easy putts but all in all, I'm really happy with how I played and I stayed patient out there."

Ends.