PUERTO VALLARTA (Mexico), Dec 15: Shigeki Maruyama and Toshimitsu Izawa brought Japan to the verge of their first World Cup win in 45 years here on Saturday with a third round fourballs score of 14-under 58.
That left them on 30 under par 186 for the tournament, one stroke ahead of the leaders at the halfway stage, Vijay Singh and Dinesh Chand of Fiji, who came in with a 62.
A stroke further back were title-holders South Africa fielding a second-string team of Rory Sabbatini and Tim Clark who also had a 62.
Americans Phil Mickelson and David Toms had the round of the day though blitzing the jungle-fringed par-72 Vista Vallarta course with a 15-under-par 57 to haul themselves back into contention on 189, three behind Japan.
Mickelson was in inspired form producing an eagle and 10 birdies that left his partner in awe.
The last Japanese win in this event, back in 1957 when it was known as the Canada Cup, went to Torakichi Nakamura and Koichi Ono on home turf in Tokyo.
Third round scores:
(Par-72, fourballs)
186 - Japan (Shigeki Maruyama/ Toshimitsu Ozawa) 64-64-58
187 - Fiji (Vijay Singh/Dinesh Chand) 63-62-62
188 - South Africa (Rory Sabbatini/ Tim Clark) 62-64-62
189 - United States (Phil Mickelson/ David Toms) 65-67-57
190 - Scotland (Paul Lawrie/Alastair Forsyth) 63-65-62, England (Justin Rose/Paul Casey) 65-63-62, Canada (Ian Leggatt/Mike Weir) 59-67-64
192 - South Korea (K.J. Choi/S.K. Ho) 61-67-64, Australia (Craig Parry/Adam Scott) 60-67-65
193 - Trinidad and Tobago (Stephen Ames/Robert Ames) 63-66-64, Ireland (Padraig Harrington/Paul McGinley) 64-67-62
194 - Argentina (Eduardo Romero/ Angel Cabrera) 64-68-62
195 - Denmark (Soren Hansen/ Anders Hansen) 63-70-62, Switzerland (Marc Chatelain/Andre Bossert) 63-67-65
196 - Myanmar (Soe Kyaw Naing/ Kyi Hla Han) 66-66-64, Wales (Ian Woosnam/Bradley Dredge) 63-68-65
197 - France (Thomas Levet/ Raphael Jacquelin) 61-72-64, Sweden (Carl Pettersson/Niclas Fasth) 62-71-64
200 - Singapore (Mardan Mamat/ Chih-Bing Lam) 70-65-65, Germany (Alex Cejka/Sven Struver)
202 - New Zealand (Craig Perks/ Michael Campbell) 65-73-64
203 - Colombia (Jesus Amaya/ Rigoberto Velasquez) 66-68-69
205 - Venezuela (Jamie Acevedo/ Carlos Larrain) 66-67-72
206 - Mexico (Esteban Toledo/Pablo del Olmio) 68-72-66.—AFP