Sadom Kaewkanjana takes 54-hole Philippine Amateur Open lead

January 7, 2017 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Yuto Katsuragawa led after 36-holes <br>but will begin Sunday in second place <br>(SPIN Photo)

36-hole leader Yuto Katsuragawa is now in second place and three shots behind with one round left to play

CAVITE, Phillippines (January 7, 2017) -- In an unexpected turn of events Sadom Kaewkanjana has taken over the lead after three rounds at the Philippine Amateur Open being hosted by the The Riviera Golf Club. The day begin with Yuto Katsuragawa ahead by five-strokes but when he faltered and Kaewkanjana surged the two flipped spots on the leaderboard. Kaewkanjana, who started the day in second place, took over the lead with a third round 5-under 67 that moved him to 4-under-par and put him three ahead of Katsuragawa. The round for Kaewkanjana was kickstarted with birdies on the first two holes and the only thing that slowed his momentum was a 6th hole bogey. Heading for home Kaewkanjana picked up four birdies on the 10th, 15th, 16th and 17th holes. Katsuragawa fell to 1-under and second place with a 3-over 75. The leader after the first two rounds turned in 1-over 37 and then stumbled to the finish with a bogey on No. 15 and a double-bogey on the 16th that dropped him back to even-par. A closing hole birdie did give Katsuragawa a bit of life. Joo Hyung Kim is 4-over and in third, at 5-over it is Aniceto Mandanas in fourth and the 6-over Carl Jano Corpus sits in fifth. WOMEN'S DIVISION The lead for Yuka Saso has ballooned to eight-strokes with just one round remaining. With a 3-under Saso turned in her third consecutive under-par round of the week. Hee Ji Kim is even-par for the tournament and in second place and Harmie Nicole Contantino is 2-over in third. ROUND TWO RECAP At the midway point of the Philippine Amateur Open being hosted by the The Riviera Golf Club 18-year-old Yuto Katsuragawa is the only played under-par at 4-under and the leader by five shots. Katsuragawa followed up his first round 69 with a 1-under 71 that was just one of three red figure rounds on Friday. The round began slowly with three bogeys in the first five holes but from No. 7 until the closing hole, Katsuragawa rolled in five birdies against a single bogey to bounce back in a big way. Sadom Kaewkanjana is 1-over and in second place, Joo Hyung Kim is a distant third at 3-over while Aniceto Mandanas and Carl Jano Corpus are sharing fourth at 5-over. WOMEN'S DIVISION In the Women's Division Yuka Saso extended her lead as well thanks to a 2-under 70 that moved her to 5-under and five shots in front of the field. Saso had an interesting round that saw her birdie once and bogey once on the front nine before she birdied five times and bogeyed three times heading for home. On the backside there was only one par and that came on No. 17. The even-par Pajaree Anannarukarn is in second place, Ji Hyeon Lee at 1-over is third, Harmie Nicole Contantino is 2-over in fourth and with a 4-over tally it is Hee Ji Kim in fifth. ROUND ONE RECAP With a 3-under 69 18-year-old Yuto Katsuragawa has grabbed the first round lead at the 2017 Philippine Amateur Open being hosted by the The Riviera Golf Club. With three rounds still to play Katsuragawa will carry a two-stroke lead into the second over Luigi Paolo Wong. On a rainy day Katsuragawa, a native of Japan, reached the top of the leaderboard with a five birdie, two bogey opening round as he carded birdies on Nos. 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16. The 1-under Luigi Paolo Wong is the only other player under-par following the first round of competition. He did his damage late with birdies on 16 and 18 to bounce back from a 1-over through 15 holes start. Four others --Aniceto Mandanas, Joo Hyung Kim, Min Jun Lee and Sadom Kaewkanjana-- are tied for third at 2-over. WOMEN'S DIVISION In the Women's Division the leaderboard looks very similar. Leading the way at 3-under is Yuka Saso while Harmie Nicole Contantino is two back and in second place. Saso, the 2016 World Junior Girls' champion, rose to the top with a five birdie, two bogey round that included birdies on Nos. 4, 9 12, 16 and 18. For the 1-under Harmie Nicole Contantino it was a four birdie, three bogey day. Contantino, the only other player in red figures, was 2-under before bogeying the 16th and 17th holes only to rebound with an 18th hole birdie. Sitting in third place is Ji Hyeon Lee at 2-over, Pajaree Anannarukarn is 3-over and in fourth while Hee Ji Kim, Min Jeong Hwang and Nur Durriyah Damian share fifth at 4-over.

About the Philippine Amateur Open

Sadom Kaewkanjana takes 54-hole Philippine Amateur Open lead

72-hole stroke play tournament open to men and women. Players should have a certified handicap index of 8.0 below for men and 10.0 below for women. The championship field is comprised of the 90 men and 42 women with the lowest handicap indices.

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