NATIONAL team mainstay Kristoffer Arevalo caught Perry Josef Bucay at the top with a one-under-par 71 even as five others remained within striking distance heading into the final round of the 2022 National Stroke Play Championship at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club Legends course in Carmona, Cavite.
The 23-year-old Arevalo, a former world jungolf champion making a comeback after a brief hiatus, racked up four straight birdies from the eighth on the way to his first sub-par round after a pair of 73s 217.
Bucay birdied the first three holes but struggled on the back nine, a last-hole bogey giving the 19-year-old La Salle freshman a one-over 73.
Jet Hernandez, Shinichi Suzuki and Koreans Kim Tae Soo and Rho Hyun Ho made their moves to stay just a stroke behind the joint leaders.
Suzuki, a top gun of the Manila Southwoods squad, fired the best round of the tournament, a four-under 68.

SEA Games-bound Jet Hernandez remains in title contention at Southwoods.
Hernandez, the spearhead of the national SEA Games squad, stormed into contention with a bogey-free 69.
Soo shot a 72 and Ho came up with a 73.
Ivan Monsalves is five behind at 222 after a 71, while Gab Manotoc and Jonas Magcalayo are tied for ninth at 223.
“I was having a weird round in my first seven holes and I told myself that if I was to stay in the fight, I might have to come up with a run of birdies which fortunately happened. It’s going to be an interesting final round tomorrow,” said Arevalo, who took a seven-month break from the game last year after he and his girlfriend Samantha welcomed their baby Amanda.
“I just made sure that I was always there to take care of our baby and when I felt that it was the right time to head out to the course and play again, I just did it with a lot of motivation and inspiration from my baby.”
In the ladies division, Vietnam SEA Games teammates Lois Kaye Go and Mafy Singson are in 1-2 positions with rounds of 74 and 70, respectively.
Go had a 221 total to stay two ahead of Singson and Laurea Duque, who ended the day tied at 223.
Six behind after Day 2, Singson carded a 70 while Duque assembled a 75 in the 72-hole event conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and sponsored by the PLDT Group, MVP Sports Foundation, Huawei and Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
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