Miyuki Shimabukuro let a promising start slip away on a windy day Saturday, but still managed to hold onto a three-stroke advantage after the third round of the 70 million yen Japan Women's Open golf tournament.
Shimabukuro carded birdies on the second and sixth holes at Muroran Golf Club to pull within one stroke of even-par on the wind-swept course in Hokkaido, but then ran into trouble as she finished the round with a 5-over-par 77 for a 7-over total of 223.
Still on a day when more than 40 players reached into the 80s, overnight leader Shimabukuro held onto a three-stroke lead over Ayako Okamoto (75) and a seven-shot advantage over Taiwan's Huang Yu-chen (80) and teenage amateur phenom Ai Miyazato (77).
Hosokawa in charge
OGAWA, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) Overnight co-leader Kazuhiko Hosokawa birdied the final three holes of a 6-under-par 65 on Saturday to grab a four-stroke advantage after three rounds of the 100 million yen Acom International golf tournament.
Hosokawa, the winner of this event in 1996, opened with a rush of three birdies over the first five holes at Ishioka Golf Club in Ibaraki Prefecture and then birdied the last three after 10 consecutive pars to go to 17-under 196.
Unheralded Takashi Kanemoto, meanwhile, briefly took a share of the lead with four birdies on the front nine, but a three-putt bogey on No. 16, couple with Hosokawa's late charge, left him tied for second with Katsumune Imai (68) and Toru Taniguchi (69) at 13-under.