Japan’s Kosaihira leads Chinese amateur Yuan

YANTAI, SHANDONG, CHINA—Japan's Yuwa Kosaihira, 20, shot a 5-under 67 to move to 13-under and take a one-shot lead after the third round of the Yantai Championship, the seventh event on this season's PGA TOUR Series-China.

Tall American Joseph Winslow (69), who led after the first two rounds, bogeyed 18 to drop back to 12-under, level with 21-year-old Chinese amateur Yechun "Carl" Yuan (68). The leading trio will play together in the final group at Yantai Nanshan Mashanzai Golf Club for a second successive day.

Thailand's Gunn Charoenkul (67) and New Zealand's Mathew Perry (69) share fourth at 9-under, one ahead of American Charlie Netzel (66) and Hong Kong's Motin Yeung (69), who's bidding to become the first back-to-back winner on the Tour since current PGA TOUR player Zecheng "Marty" Dou in 2016.

Kosaihira, who turned 20 in May, is looking for his first win as a pro and to become the Tour's first Japanese winner. Playing in his first year on the Tour, Kosaihira tied for sixth and fifth in Chongqing and Changsha respectively, and last month shared 12th in both Guilin and Kunming, putting him 12th in the Order of Merit.

In windy conditions on Saturday, the Japanese carded two birdies and two bogeys in his opening six holes, then birdied Nos. 7, 8, 12, 15 and 17.

"I stayed calm, played very relaxed and made a good putt on 17 for birdie. I was very happy with how I played and it feels great to be in the lead," said Kosaihira, who lives in Osaka.

"I want to win and I hope that I can. I need to do my best and focus on my game. If I can do that and stay calm, I think I have a chance."

Yuan, who played college golf at the University of Washington, remained a shot off the lead and is excited to again put himself in contention for a second successive event.

At last month's Kunming Championship, in his first event on the Tour this year, he was two shots off the lead after 54 holes and played in the final group on Sunday before a 71 dropped him into a tie for 18th, so is hoping to benefit from that experience.

"Playing in the leading group today, I saw that each player had their own strengths. I just need to stick my game plan and my own style," said Yuan, who tied for third at last October's Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Wellington.

"I didn't have many expectations before I came here. I'm more focused on preparing for the Asian Games, but I have the chance to win now, so I'm going to try and win."

Winslow, 20th on the Order of Merit in his first year on Tour, missed a short putt on the final hole, but overall was pleased with a round that included six birdies and three bogeys.

"I was a little up and down today, but overall I was still able to get to 3-under and I'm still right up there in the leaderboard and did what I needed to do. There are a couple of things I'd like to clean up to get ready for tomorrow," Winslow said.

The 25-year old from Kansas City has experience at the top of the leaderboard after winning the Tour's International Qualifying School in February and is confident he has what it takes to close out.

"I just need to trust in my game. I know that it's good enough to win and I've done it this year, so I need to use that belief in myself to go out and play great."

Every tournament on this year's PGA TOUR Series-China offers RMB 1.5 million, a 25-percent increase over purse levels from 2016.

The PGA TOUR established PGA TOUR Series-China in 2014 as its third international developmental tour, following in the footsteps of PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. Since its inception, PGA TOUR Series-China players have received Official World Golf Ranking points for top finishes at official tournaments.