Tomoyo Ikemura moved to within 18 holes of winning his maiden title on the Asian Tour with a last-hole birdie in a round of three-under-par 67 to capture sole possession of the lead after the third round of the US$500,000 Smart Infinity Philippine Open.

In the season-opening event of the 2025 Asian Tour schedule, being played at the Masters Course of Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club, the 29-year-old Japanese golfer from Kagoshima, who is eight-under, finished one ahead of Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana.

Sadom (72), the leader at the halfway stage, overcame a mid-round wobble and finished strong with birdies on his last two holes to stay one ahead of a group of five players. That included Thailand’s Danthai Boonma, who set a new course record with a brilliant bogey-free round of 62.

Other players in tied third place are Swede Bjorn Hellgren (66), Frenchman Julian Sale (67), Bowen Xiao (67) of China and Australian Kevin Yuan (68).

Ikemura, a two-time champion on the Japan Golf Tour whose best finish on the Asian Tour are a couple of tied second places at the 2018 Leopalace21 Myanmar Open and the 2023 New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport, was cruising at five-under when he made a double bogey on the par-four 12th hole, followed by a bogey on the 15th. However, the five birdies in seven holes from the eighth to 14th, and another on the par-five 18th, ensured he moved to the top of the leaderboard.

“My hitting was really good, but there were a few unlucky shots as well. I hit it in the trees on the 12th hole and got an unplayable lie, but other than that it was a good day,” said the diminutive Ikemura, who played nine events on the Asian Tour last year and finished 53rd in the Order of Merit.

“I’ve been in contention a few times, but I couldn’t win last year in Japan or in Asia. So, my goal this year is to win in Asia. I’ve worked hard over the off-season. I am working towards a new goal this year, to qualify for LIV Golf. A win would be a good start to the year.”

The 26-year-old Sadom, who has been a picture of consistency the first two days and made his first bogey after 28 holes, made two bogeys and a double in successive holes after starting with four pars in a row. The two birdies towards the end put the smile back on his face.

“I felt a bit nervous at the start, but everything was good until I hit my shot into the greenside bunker on the fifth hole and made a bogey,” said the two-time winner on the Asian Tour.

“I guess I lost confidence a little bit after that, but I tried hard on the back nine and I am happy I could do well on the back nine.

“A win would mean a lot, because I really worked hard for the past couple of years, and I now have a chance. Tomorrow, my gameplan will depend on the wind. I think today the wind changed, which was the reason I lost confidence with my tee shots. If it’s a similar direction wind like the first two rounds, maybe, I can play the same way as I did the first two days.”

Boonma, who was only one of two players bogey-free on the challenging opening day, made four birdies on either sides of the golf course and was again without a bogey.

“Nothing to complain about today… bogey-free 62 is as good as it gets,” said the Thai star. “I think I controlled myself really well today. I just felt more comfortable than yesterday because I think I had no expectations today.

“The key was that I started really well. I started on hole 10, and I made birdies on 11, 12, and 13, so it made me more confident.”

The Asian Tour heads to the International Series India presented by DLF next week. The US$2 million event is being played at DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram at the outskirts of the capital New Delhi.

Scores after round 3 of the Smart Infinity Philippine Open being played on the Masters Course at Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club. It is a par 70, 7,138-yard course (am – denotes amateur):

202 – Tomoyo Ikemura (JPN) 69-66-67.
203 – Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 65-66-72.
204 – Bjorn Hellgren (SWE) 67-71-66, Julien Sale (FRA) 69-68-67, Xiao Bowen (CHN) 71-66-67, Kevin Yuan (AUS) 70-66-68, Danthai Boonma (THA) 66-76-62.
205 – Jiho Yang (KOR) 70-69-66, Scott Vincent (ZIM) 69-70-66, Jose Toledo (GTM) 70-68-67, Ian Snyman (RSA) 68-68-69.
206 – Kosuke Hamamoto (THA) 69-71-66, Poom Saksansin (THA) 70-69-67, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 66-72-68, Junghwan Lee (KOR) 70-68-68, Kazuki Higa (JPN) 70-67-69, Justin Quiban (PHI) 73-64-69, Jaewoong Eom (KOR) 68-68-70, Micah Shin (USA) 69-65-72.
207 – Dominic Foos (GER) 68-71-68, Liu Yanwei (CHN) 71-69-67, Chonlatit Chuenboonngam (THA) 73-68-66, Miguel Carballo (ARG) 70-71-66, Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 74-68-65, Tatsunori Shogenji (JPN) 68-69-70.
208 – Ekpharit Wu (THA) 73-67-68, Aidric Chan (PHI) 68-71-69, Nick Voke (NZL) 68-71-69, Settee Prakongvech (THA) 67-71-70, Sean Ramos (PHI) 68-70-70, Maverick Antcliff (AUS) 73-69-66, Denzel Ieremia (NZL) 71-71-66, Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND) 67-70-71, Gunn Charoenkul (THA) 70-67-71, Christian Banke (USA) 71-66-71, Aaron Wilkin (AUS) 66-69-73.
209 – Austen Truslow (USA) 73-68-68, George Kneiser (USA) 74-67-68, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 70-72-67, S.S.P. Chawrasia (IND) 69-73-67, Jeunghun Wang (KOR) 69-68-72, CharngTai Sudsom (THA) 69-67-73, Travis Smyth (AUS) 70-66-73.
210 – Ervin Chang (MAS) 72-67-71, Lawry Flynn (AUS) 71-68-71, Liu Yung-hua (TPE) 70-69-71, Steve Lewton (ENG) 69-72-69, Yosuke Asaji (JPN) 67-74-69.
211 – Jed Morgan (AUS) 68-73-70, Kyungnam Kang (KOR) 69-72-70, Junggon Hwang (KOR) 70-71-70, Santiago De la Fuente (MEX) 71-67-73, Dodge Kemmer (USA) 71-71-69, Yeongsu Kim (KOR) 71-71-69, Rashid Khan (IND) 70-72-69.
212 – Enrico Gallardo (PHI) 71-68-73, Stefano Mazzoli (ITA) 70-71-71, Lloyd Jefferson Go (PHI) 72-70-70, Carl Jano Corpus (PHI) 70-72-70, Rupert Zaragosa (PHI) 73-69-70.
213 – Chapchai Nirat (THA) 74-66-73.
214 – Justin De Los Santos (PHI) 70-69-75, Shinichi Suzuki (am, PHI) 73-69-72, Todd Sinnott (AUS) 73-69-72, Sihwan Kim (USA) 73-69-72, Mingyu Cho (KOR) 72-70-72.

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