Four Tied At The Top In Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship

Ren Yonezawa, Blake Windred, Yuto Katsuragawa and Yung Hua-Liu are tied for the lead with a round to play in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

Four tied at the top in Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship

Playing in the last group on Saturday at Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, Ren Yonezawa of Japan and Australia’s Blake Windred carded rounds of 73 and 74 respectively to finish 54 holes tied on eight-under-par, together with another Japanese player Yuto Katsuragawa and Yung Hua-Liu of Chinese Taipei.

36-hole leader Blake Windred had a tough day in which he made five bogeys, but he hung in well and a birdie on the final hole saw him move back to share the top spot.

“I’ll take the positives from the day, but it wasn’t my best performance by a long shot,” he said.

“I had to work hard out there and was certainly happy to roll in that last putt. I’m excited to go out another day and to have a chance to take home the trophy.”

Yonezawa had led the pack by one coming down the home hole but a three-putt bogey saw him drop back into a four-way tie.

“It was tough today and I’ll have quite a bit to work on for tomorrow,” he said.

“I was quite nervous on the 18th so tomorrow I need to go out and really focus on one shot at a time.”

Yung Hua-Liu of Chinese Taipei completed a solid round of 69 to reach eight-under-par.

The 22-year-old, making his third appearance in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, carded four birdies and just one bogey in halves of 34 and 35.

Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa got off to a lightning-fast start, carding five straight birdies from the 3rd hole to claim a share of the lead.

He stumbled after that with three consecutive bogeys, but he recovered with three birdies on the back nine, including one on the last.

The Japanese player carded a 69 and ended the day on eight-under which turned out to be good enough for a share of the lead.

Defending champion Takumi Kanaya is one back on seven-under.

The 21-year-old, ranked Number 1 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, posted a 68 to get within touching distance of the leaders.

There are three Japanese players in the top five.

Tied with Kanaya on seven-under is Won Jun Lee of South Korea.

The 21-year-old, who has twice finished in the top-10 in four previous appearances at the AAC posted a round of the day 66 to climb the leaderboard and get within a shot of the leaders.

2017 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Yuxin Lin of China was eight-under playing the last but found the water on the home hole for the second consecutive day.

He finished with a seven and is six-under for the tournament.

Despite his poor finish, Lin is still right in contention.

With no fewer than 15 players within five shots of the lead, the 11th instalment of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is still wide open.

With 18 holes to play, the pressure will continue to build as the prospect of the incredible prizes on offer this week become closer to reality for those at the top of the leaderboard.

Organised by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) in conjunction with The R&A and The Masters Tournament, the winner of this tournament receives: An invitation to compete in the 2020 Masters Tournament plus direct entry into The 149th Open Championship at Royal St George’s in 2020. He will also receive an exemption into The Amateur Championship to be played at Royal Birkdale.

The runner(s)-up receive a place in The Open Qualifying Series with the opportunity to qualify for Royal St George’s.

Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship – Round 3 Scores

T1 Yuto Katsuragawa (Jap) -8 T1 Yung-Hua Liu (Tpe) -8 T1 Ren Yonezawa (Jap) -8 T1 Blake Windred (Aus) -8 T5 Won Jun Lee (Kor) -7 T5 Takumi Kanaya (Jap) -7 T7 Yuxin Lin (Chn) -6 T7 Jun Min Lee (Kor) -6 T9 James Leow (Sin) -5 T9 Kaiwen Liu (Chn) -5