De Los Santos stays ahead of the chasing pack

Rising Filipino star Justin De Los Santos stayed on course for a maiden JGTO victory at the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan after returning with a seven-under-par 64 to share the third round lead with Yuto Katsuragawa on Saturday.

De Los Santos, 26, was in his element again as he carded a near-flawless 64 to join fast-rising Katsuragawa, who birdied five of his last seven holes for a 65 on 18-under-par 195 total at the PGM Ishioka Golf Club.

The contest looks set to be heading for a thrilling Sunday as the destiny of the title remains completely up for grabs with as many as 23 players within five shots of the lead.

Sharing third place on 196 were Kaito Onishi, Yuta Uetake and Kazuki Higa, who continued to hunt for a back-to-back win following his Kansai Open triumph last week.

Rikuya Hoshino, who had two top-three finishes in his last two starts, looks set to contend again after firing two eagles en route to a 67. He completed the penultimate stage in tied sixth and is two shots off the pace.

For De Los Santos, to finally get a win on his 24th start on JGTO would mean the world to him as he is currently competing with limited status.

He has vowed to seal the deal and join countrymen Frankie Minoza, Juvic Pagunsan and Angelo Que in the illustrious list of Filipino winners on JGTO.

"I'd prefer to be in the lead. I'd much rather have the advantage because it's akin to starting a race 10m ahead," said De Los Santos, a one-time winner on the ABEMA Tour.

"But at this point, I can just play my own game. Whatever happens, happens."

De Los Santos, who was tied 14th at the SMBC Singapore Open, believes the momentum he built in the second half of his rookie season last year has helped him make a good start this year.

He registered one top 10 outing, a tied sixth at the Panasonic Open.

"Thanks to the few events in the latter part of last year, I was able to get comfortable and feel like I actually belong here," said De Los Santos.

"So, now I feel like I can compete in these events."

Starting the day one shot adrift, De Los Santos picked up where he left off by moving into the lead for the first time this week after picking up six shots in the first 10 holes. 

He bogeyed the par-four 11th, but that was hardly a setback as he bounced back strongly with two more birdies on holes 13 and 16.

"I had a pretty good front nine as I was putting really well," he said.

"I slowed down a little bit and didn't make much on the back, but I still played pretty well and made the birdies I needed to."

On the lone bogey that denied him a perfect round, said De Los Santos: "I'm not quite sure what it hit. It might have hit a sprinkler or something because there was a bit of black mark on my ball.

"Normally, I don't reach those trees with the driver, but it landed in the centre of the trees. I punched out and gave myself probably 20 yards.

"It was pretty muddy around some of these greens, and the grass is pretty thin. I cut a little bit heavy on the chip, came up a little short, and I didn't make the putt. It's what it is," said the Filipino.