Edoardo Molinari leads Dunlop Phoenix in Japan

FROM THE KHALEEJ TIMES WEBSITE
MIYAZAKI, Japan - Edoardo Molinari of Italy returned a two-under-par 69 to snatch the lead after the third round in the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan today.
Starting the day one stroke off the pace, Molinari sank three birdie putts on the front nine to take the lead before adding one birdie and two bogeys on the back nine for a three-round-total of eight under par 205.
For the 28-year-old Molinari, top earner on the European Challenge Tour this season, it was his first appearance in the 200-million yen (2.2-million-dollar) event which provided David Duval - remember him? - with his last tournament win in the early 2000s.
Robert Karlsson, who became the first Swede to be the top money earner on the European Tour last season, shared second place with overnight leader Kenichi Kuboya of Japan on 206.
Karlsson carded five birdies against two bogeys for a 68, while Kuboya eagled the final hole to add to his two birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey for an even 71.
Shane Lowry of Ireland, winner, as an amateur, of the Irish Open in May, signed for a 69 to be tied at 12th place with Steven Conran of Australia and three other Japanese golfers on 210.
Three-time major winner Vijay Singh of Fiji had three birdies against two bogeys for a 20th-place tie on 212 with 10 other players, including New Zealand’s David Smail and Eddie Lee, American Han Lee and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa.
THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Phoenix Country Club, Miyazaki, Japan
Par 213 (3x71)
205 Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 66 69
206 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 68 68, Kenichi Kuboya 65 70 71
208 Katsumasa Miyamoto 70 69 69, Ryuichi Oda 68 68 72, Tadahiro Takayama 69 68 71, Yudai Maeda 70 65 73, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 70 69 69
209 Masaya Tomida 69 70 70, Michio Matsumura 68 73 68, Daisuke Maruyama 71 70 68
210 Hirofumi Miyase 69 72 69, Shane Lowry 73 68 69, Steven Conran (Aus) 69 70 71, Mamo Osanai 70 68 72, Shingo Katayama 68 70 72
211 Tetsuji Hiratsuka 69 66 76, Norio Shinozaki 70 74 67, Shigeki Maruyama 72 70 69
212 Kiyoshi Miyazato 68 71 73, Makoto Inoue 70 74 68, David Smail (Nzl) 71 71 70, Eddie Lee (Nzl) 75 69 68, Ryo Ishikawa 71 70 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 71 70, Han Lee (USA) 70 69 73, Taichi Teshima 72 68 72, Yusaku Miyazato 72 69 71, Shintaro Kai 68 71 73, Katsunori Kuwabara 72 70 70
213 Toshimitsu Izawa 69 73 71, Hiroyuki Fujita 71 72 70, Hiroshi Iwata 70 71 72
214 Koumei Oda 70 70 74, Akio Sadakata 74 72 68, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 72 70 72, Dinesh Chand (Fij) 71 74 69, Shinichi Yokota 70 71 73, Satoshi Tomiyama 73 71 70, Kazuhiro Yamashita 68 72 74, Satoru Hirota 72 69 73
215 Tetsuya Haraguchi 71 73 71, Toru Taniguchi 74 69 72
216 Hidemasa Hoshino 74 72 70, Kaname Yokoo 70 71 75, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 71 74 71, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 75 70 71
217 Toyokazu Fujishima 72 73 72, Sushi Ishigaki 70 74 73, Kunihiro Kamii 76 67 74, Naoya Takemoto 72 74 71, Nobuhiro Masuda 74 69 74
218 Jason Dufner (USA) 75 70 73, Tatsunori Nukaga 73 72 73, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 72 75
219 Yuta Ikeda 74 72 73, S K Ho (Kor) 70 76 73
220 Jun Kikuchi 71 73 76, Wayne Perske (Aus) 72 73 75, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 72 74 74
221 Nobuhito Sato 73 73 75, Yuji Igarashi 71 75 75
223 Masao Nakajima 72 73 78