Yuka Saso kept her tight grip of the lead with a 68 in the penultimate round of the Japan LPGA Nitori Ladies golf tournament.

A hot streak in the front nine Saturday gave the Filipino-Japanese enough cushion to protect her lead after a cold outing at the turn in Day 3 of competition at the Otaru Country Club in Hokkaido. The rookie hauled in a 4-under card after a 67 and a 69 in the first two rounds with just 18 more holes to go.

Saso, who is looking for her second win after capturing the NEC Kuruizawa title two weeks ago and is now staring at a roughly P16.5 million purse, assembled a 12-under 204 for a one stroke lead over closest pursuer Japanese Sakura Koiwai.

The 19-year old Saso scrambled in the last nine holes as Kowai made her move to finish with a 66 for an 11-under 205 to turn the final round into an exciting two-player duel.

Hinano Muguruma and Hikaru Yoshimoto were tied at third, hitting a 69 and a 71, respectively, for 8-under 208 cards.

Mayu Hamada tallied a 54-hole score of 209 while Chie Aimura had 210.

This story was originally published on the ABS-CBN Sports website.