JET Hernandez and Shinichi Suzuki combined for a six-under-par 138 in the third round on Thursday and put Team Philippines in title contention in the 31st Nomura Cup team golf championship in Beijing where Hong Kong kept the lead.
The National Strokeplay and Match Play champions back home, respectively, Hernandez and Suzuki churned out the second-best effort on a demanding day at Bayhood 9 Golf Club as the Filipinos chopped down what stood as a 10-shot deficit at the start of the day to half to be in position to win the event for the first time.
Hernandez catches fire
"We put ourselves in a great spot to have a chance to win this thing," the 21-year-old Hernandez, drained six birdies in shooting a four-under-par 68, said as the Filipinos take a 426 aggregate into the final 18 holes.
"The game plan will stay the same for us," he went on. "And that is to do whatever it takes to shoot the lowest score possible."
Suzuki, meanwhile, birdied three of his last six holes and carved out a 70 as the duo made up for the struggles that Rolando Bregente had in returning a 78.
"I hit it really well out there," the 18-year-old Suzuki said. "My round was basically like that of (Wednesday) but I just couldn't get some of my putts to drop. Then came a really terrible double bogey on N0. 10 for me. We pretty much struggled on that hole all week.
"But it definitely was our day today," he added. "We were able to improve by eight shots (from the second round) and cut our deficit in half. It will definitely be an exciting final round tomorrow."
Jeffrey Shen and Markus Zachary Lam fired 70s for HK's 140 output and 421 aggregate, now just two shots ahead of Japan, which got a 68 from Kaito Sato and a 71 from Mao Matsuyama for 139 and 423.
China, meanwhile, is just a stroke behind the Filipinos, even as South Korea churned out a day-best 136 to be three behind the Chinese in fifth spot, dislodging powerhouses New Zealand and Thailand, who share sixth spot at 433 after a 141 and 144, respectively.
"Our mindset is to stick to our game plan and give our 100 percent out there (in the fourth round)," the 6-foot-3 Suzuki went on. "And lastly, surrender everything into God's hands."
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