Juvic Pagunsan lost the lead on Friday but drew the tournament’s top attraction in a third-round pairing at the cash-rich Japan Open in Hyogo, Japan.
The Filipino first-round leader with a 66 Thursday carded a two-over-par 74 and slipped seven strokes off the pace and in a tie for seventh place with 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott and five others at 140.
Pagunsan and Scott will play against each other in a mouth-watering third-round duel.
Japanese Satoshi Kodaira torched the Rokko Kokusai Golf Club east course with a 62 to grab a two-shot lead with a 133 total.
Angelo Que also managed a 74 and fell to a share of 20th at 142.
In Macau, Marvin Dumandan carded a one-under-par 70 and trailed Taiwanese Hung Chien-yao by seven shots halfway through the Venetian Macau Open.
Dumandan had a 36-hole total of 139, still three better than compatriot Antonio Lascuña who shot a second straight 71.
Hung shot a 64 to pull in front with 132, one clear of India’s Anirban Lahiri (67) and Chiragh Kumar (66), South Korea’s Wang Jeung-hun (68) and Brazil’s Adilson Da Silva (65).
Another Filipino, Miguel Tabuena, matched par for 143 but missed the halfway cut by a stroke. jgto.org, asiantour.com