September 20: Charles Porter showed the patience of a monk to defend his lead at the end of the third round on Saturday, but Kazuki Higa was snapping at his heels after two birdies in his last two holes in the US$1 million Yeangder TPC.

Porter, who started the day with a four-shot lead, seemed to be running away from the field with two early birdies in his first four holes, but he then proceeded to finish with 14 straight pars for a two-under-par 70 to lead after 54 holes at 14-under 202.

Higa, who is sponsored by Yeangder and said winning the tournament would mean the world to him, is trying to become a back-to-back winner on the Asian Tour. He made a determined move towards that goal with a 67 that included just one bogey.

Much to the delight of the local fans at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club, 17-year-old amateur Hsieh Cheng-wei birdied the 18th hole for a second straight 67 and joined Australia’s Travis Smyth (67) in tied third place at 12-under.

Kazuki Higa of Japan. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Thailand’s defending champion Suteepat Prateeptienchai (68) remained a threat in tied fifth place at 11-under alongside compatriot Chonlatit Chuenboonngam (67).

Porter, the 26-year-old from San Francisco, said he had to rely heavily on his short game to make sure he stayed under-par for the round. He birdied the first two par-fives of the golf course – the first and the fourth – but rued a missed opportunity on the par-4 second, where he drove the green and three-putted for a par.

“I’d describe the round as rickety. I hit it all over the place and then hit some really impressive recovery shots and chip shots. If it wasn’t for that, I probably would have shot a few over, to be honest,” said the tall American who qualified for the Asian Tour after losing his card on the Korn Ferry Tour last year.

“I’ve been patient all week, so it wasn’t really hard to do the same today. I drove the green on two and three putted, so it was easy.

“The tee shot on two was really cool to drive that green. Even though I made par, I think that was a sweet shot.”

Travis Smyth of Australia. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

A product of Japan’s famed Tohoku Fukushi University, which gave Japan its first major champion, Hideki Matsuyama, Higa is showing the same level of dominance. Having won twice on the Asian Development Tour, he will be looking for his 11th international title on Sunday.

The 30-year-old from Okinawa was motoring along with four birdies in his first 14 holes, before making a bogey on the 15th. That did not deter Higa, who bounced back with birdies on the 17th and 18th.

“Really happy with the good finish. I struggled with my tee shots today. Missed a lot of fairways, but still managed to make six birdies today, so that was all good,” said the 5ft 2in tall Higa, who is playing the weekend with the 6ft 9in Porter.

“Tomorrow I will need to focus more on my tee shots. If I can put my ball in play, I should be able to make more birdies and not give the other competitors chances to take the title. No pressure playing with Charles, although he’s really tall!”

Smyth has been a picture of consistency on the Asian Tour, but he is yet to add to his one title, which came at the same tournament in 2022. He has also finished second once on the same golf course.

Hsieh Cheng-wei of Chinese-Taipei. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

On Saturday, after making seven birdies in the round, the Sydneysider said: “It was pretty solid. I didn’t play great, but I putted great and that helped the score a lot. Ball-striking was a bit iffy since I spent a lot of time in the trees.

“I don’t know why I do well here. There are a lot of tee shots here that I don’t really like the look of. It’s tight and I spray the ball everywhere. I think I managed to hole putts here somehow. Just over the years, I always seem to find the bottom of the cup. So putting is huge this week.”

Hsieh, who plays regularly at the golf course, showed his potential once again and sent a strong message to his future team at Arizona State University with a brilliant 67. He started with an eagle on the par-5 first and then added five more birdies.

The results have been very good these three days. My accuracy and distance control are very good. Although the wind was different from the last two days today, I committed to my shots and was able to get the results I wanted,” said the youngster who holds the record of being the youngest player to make the cut in Asian Tour at this tournament in 2022.

“I will try and focus on every shot tomorrow. I played with Travis and Suteepat today and was very impressed with their steadiness on the golf course and the ability to recover from bad shots. Hopefully, I can use those lessons tomorrow.”