Japan Recaptures Lead Heading into Final Round of Girls’ Division at 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL

TOYOTA CITY, Japan – After shooting its third-consecutive subpar round of the tournament (139), Japan (-14) will carry a 6-stroke lead into the final round of the Girls’ Division of the 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL in Toyota City, Aichi-Prefecture, Japan.

Second round leader Korea (-8) fell to second following its first round above par (146). Canada also checks in below par in third place at 1-under. Sweden (+2) fell to fourth place – three shots ahead of two-time defending champion United States (+5). Colombia sits in sixth at 6-over while New Zealand (+17), Italy (+24) and South Africa (+24) round out the girls’ field.

“All of our players have contributed on different days of the tournament,” Japanese coach Shingo Kakutani said. “We responded very well to being paired with the Korean team and hopefully we will come out and finish well tomorrow.”

Korea’s Lee Sujeong (-7) remains atop the girls’ individual leaderboard ahead of Japanese teammates Yuna Nishimura (-6) and Yuka Yasuda (-5). Celeste Dao of Canada holds the fourth position at 4-under while Japan’s Ayaka Furue (-3), Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden (-3) and Korea’s Uhm Kyuwon (-1) are also below par.
Colombia’s Maria Bohorquez Fonseca and Sadie Englemann of the United States are tied for eighth at plus-2 while American Gina Kim and Valery Plata Pardo of Colombia (+4) check in 10th.

In the boys’ competition, Spain fired the low round of the day (207) to move to 20-under for the tournament and take a 7-stroke lead over second place Denmark (-13). Thailand jumped to third at minus-10 while Japan also checked in below par at 8-under.

“We putted very well today and that’s the primary reason we’re leading right now,” Spanish captain Ion Ander Corral said. “We will need that to continue tomorrow and hopefully doing so will keep us in contention for the title.”

Argentina, South Africa and Sweden (+4) are in a three-way tie for fifth – one stroke ahead of Italy and Korea (+5). New Zealand moved up to 10th at plus-6 while Mexico finds itself in 11th at 7-over. Colombia (+13), the United States (+15), Canada (+25) and Morocco (+39) close out the boys’ field.

Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard (-9) moved to the top of the individual leaderboard – one shot ahead of three players – Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Coto of Spain, Japan’s Ryo Hisatune and Nicolai Højgaard of Denmark – tied for second at minus-8.

Three more players – Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Spanish teammates David Puig Currius and Eduard Rousaud Sabate – are tied for fifth at 6-under.

The final round of the 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL tees off Friday at 8:00 AM JST. For more information – including photographs and videos from the round – please visit www.wjgtc.org and follow the tournament’s official twitter account @WJGTC.

Live scoring of the 2018 TOYOTA Junior Golf World Cup Supported by JAL is provided by Golfstat. Please visit www.golfstat.com for additional information. Scores can also be found on the Golfstat app which is available for download on all smartphones and tablets.

GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS
1. Japan 136-143-139 = 418 (-14)
2. Korea 140-138-146 = 424 (-8)
3. Canada 142-148-141 = 431 (-1)
4. Sweden 143-146-145 = 434 (+2)
5. United States 145-148-144 = 437 (+5)
6. Colombia 147-144-147 = 438 (+6)
7. New Zealand 144-152-153 = 449 (+17)
T9. Italy 149-159-152 = 456 (+24)
T9. South Africa 150-154-148 = 456 (+24)

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
1. Lee Sujeong, Korea 68-70-71 = 209 (-7)
2. Yuna Nishimura, Japan 68-74-68 = 210 (-6)
3. Yuka Yasuda, Japan 70-70-71 = 211 (-5)
4. Celeste Dao, Canada 70-74-68 = 212 (-4)
T5. Ayaka Furue, Japan 68-73-72 = 213 (-3)
T5. Ingrid Lindblad, Sweden 70-72-71 = 213 (-3)
7. Uhm Kyuwon, Korea 72-68-75 = 215 (-1)
T8. Maria Bohorquez Fonseca, Colombia 73-73-72 = 218 (+2)
T8. Sadie Englemann, United States 72-75-71 = 218 (+2)
T10. Gina Kim, United States 73-74-73 = 220 (+4)
T10. Valery Plata Pardo, Colombia 74-71-75 = 220 (+4)

BOYS TEAM STANDINGS
1. Spain 203-209-207 = 619 (-20)
2. Denmark 210-202-214 = 626 (-13)
3. Thailand 210-210-209 = 629 (-10)
4. Japan 208-209-214 = 631 (-8)
T5. Argentina 213-213-217 = 643 (+4)
T5. South Africa 215-214-214 = 643 (+4)
T5. Sweden 213-216-214 = 643 (+4)
T8. Italy 215-215-214 = 644 (+5)
T8. Korea 205-215-224 = 644 (+5)
10. New Zealand 221-213-211 = 645 (+6)
11. Mexico 211-218-217 = 646 (+7)
12. Colombia 214-218-220 = 652 (+13)
13. United States 216-221-217 = 654 (+15)
14. Canada 218-223-223 = 664 (+25)
15. Morocco 215-223-240 = 678 (+39)

BOYS INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
1. Rasmus Højgaard, Denmark 68-68-68 = 204 (-9)
T2. Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Coto, Spain 68-67-70 = 205 (-8)
T2. Ryo Hisatune, Japan 68-71-66 = 205 (-8)
T2. Nicolai Højgaard, Denmark 65-68-72 = 205 (-8)
T5. Ludvig Aberg, Sweden 67-71-69 = 207 (-6)
T5. David Puig Currius, Spain 65-72-70 = 207 (-6)
T5. Eduard Rousaud Sabate, Spain 70-70-67 = 207 (-6)
8. Bae Yongjun, Korea 67-69-72 = 208 (-5)
9. Kritchayapol Sinchai, Thailand 69-73-68 = 210 (-3)
T10. Vanchai Luangnitkul, Thailand 69-73-69 = 211 (-2)
T10. Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, Argentina 72-70-69 = 211 (-2)
T10. Andrea Romano, Italy 70-68-73 = 211 (-2)