Omitama: Rikuya Hoshino and Takumi Kanaya remained firmly in contention for a grandstand finish after carding 66 and 67 respectively to trail Canadian leader Aaron Cockerill by two shots following the third round of the inaugural ISPS Handa Championship yesterday.
Hoshino notched five birdies before dropping a bogey on the last hole at the PGM Ishioka Golf Club to climb three rungs to tied-fourth on 11-under-par 199 and was joined by Kanaya, who traded four birdies against a lone bogey.
Hoshino and Kanaya, who are six and three-time winners on JGTO respectively, will certainly be extra motivated to make a big push today knowing that a victory will earn them a two-year exemption on DP World Tour.
Hoshino, competing on the global circuit this year with a conditional status earned by being the top three finishers of last year’s JGTO Money Rankings, recorded one…
