TOYOTA, Aichi -- Yuna Nishimura carded a 4-under 68 to help the Japan girls' team regain the top spot after the third round of the 2018 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup on Thursday in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.
Japan, which fell to second the previous day, surpassed overnight leader South Korea with a 14-under 418, grabbing a six-stroke lead over their Asian rival in the nine-country competition. The Japan boys' team slipped from third to fourth at 8-under 631, 12 strokes behind leader Spain, in its 15-country competition.
Nishimura, a third-year student at Osaka University of Commerce High School, put herself in position for a double title ahead of the final day, as she rose from fifth to second in the individual competition, one stroke behind Lee Su Jeong of South Korea. Yuka Yasuda, a third-year student at Takigawa Daini High School in Hyogo Prefecture, remained a stroke behind Nishimura.
Nishimura said she watched videos of pro golfer Jordan Spieth to adjust her putting. "He also putts using cross-handed grips, so I thought [the video] might help me," she said.
"I mishit my putts yesterday, so I analyzed what went wrong and changed my strokes, and that turned out in a good direction," Nishimura said.
In the men's individual competition, Ryo Hisatsune carded a 5-under 66, rising to second with a total of 8-under 205. The first-year student at Sakuyo High School in Okayama Prefecture is one stroke behind Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark.
The four-day event is being held at the Chukyo Golf Club's Ishino course, with special support from The Yomiuri Shimbun.
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