Overnight leader Katsumasa Miyamoto fired his second straight 68 on Saturday to stretch his lead to three strokes heading into the final round of the Tamanoi Yomiuri Open golf tournament.
Miyamoto, who holed five birdies on the front nine Saturday, was hot again over the same stretch for the third round, carding a pair of birdies and an eagle and then matching par on the back nine at the Yomiuri Country Club for a 54-hole total of 15-under 201.
Miyamoto's eagle came on the 339-yard, par-4 seventh hole when the sixth-year pro drove the green and then sank a 21-footer.
"There are a lot of birdies on this course, so I really don't have the feeling like I'm on top," Miyamoto said after the round.
"I haven't reached my goals in terms of my score, but my shots are going as planned and I'm playing my best game for the first time in a long time."
Miyamoto is seeking his first tour victory since the 1998 Nippon Series event.
Meanwhile, Taichi Teshima birdied the final three holes of a 67 to move into a share of second place at 204 with Kiyoshi Miyazato (67) and first-round leader Yoshimitsu Fukuzawa, who shot his second straight round of 70.
Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Naoya Sugiyama came in with the day's best scores of 66 to grab a share of ninth place at 9-under 207 with Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki (71), Tsuneyuki Nakajima (68) and three other golfers.