The overnight leader’s 5-under-par 66 on Saturday was highlighted by an eagle at the short par-4 12th hole, a blind wedge shot from 66 metres that took two bounces before spinning back into the cup.

At 22-under-par after 54 holes, it will be Koh’s tournament to lose on the final day on Millbrook’s composite course as he tries to become the event’s second consecutive Asian winner.

The closest challenger to the four-time winner on the Korean Tour is West Australian left-hander Ryan Peake, who made up two shots on the leader with a 64 on Saturday and has the biggest day of his career ahead on Sunday.

Japan’s Kazumi Higa eagled the par-five first and 17th holes to climb to a share of third with a 9-under-par 62.

He is joined in the group five shots behind by South African Ian Snyman (66), China’s Bobby Bai (67) and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit No.1 Elvis Smylie, who made up plenty of late ground with a back nine of 29 in a 6-under 66.

The leading New Zealander is Sam Jones who charged to a share of seventh, seven shots behind, thanks to a composite course record round of 10-under 61.

He was close to finishing his round when Koh was getting his underway with a three-shot lead, the Korean quickly extending his advantage with birdies at the first, second and third holes.

Although he had two bogeys, he turned in 3-under 33 and was as many as six shots in front before his lead dwindled slightly with six consecutive pars coming home after the eagle on 12.

“I was concerned about how much backspin I’m going to have after the shot, but it just went perfectly,” Koh said of his second hole-out in as many days.

“It’s great that I have a four-shot lead, but this course itself is very scoreable. I need to keep focused on what I’m doing and just make sure I just stay consistent to what I’m doing.”

Despite climbing to second and being bogey-free for 39 holes, Peake is seeking more consistency from his driver. He headed to the driving range post-round looking for some solutions after hitting just three out of 14 fairways today.

“It’s not the flight I want. I’m not getting the distance that I want and I’m just not finding a lot of these fairways,” Peake said.

“When you get in some of this long rough, it’s hard to get it close and give yourself reasonable birdie opportunities.

“I’m doing well to make a score from where I am; I just need to start hitting some fairways.”

The winner of two events on his home tour this season, Smylie was stuck in neutral on the front nine but erupted with four birdies and an eagle on the back nine, turning a 10-shot deficit to the leader into a more manageable six.

He’s confident that he’s close enough to chase down Koh.

“It’d be special to be able to come back from how many shots I am behind the leader, but I know that I can do that and it’s definitely motivating,” the Australian PGA champion, another of the lefthanders on the leaderboard, said.

Jones’s brilliant 61 included eight birdies plus an eagle on the par-5 17th hole where his second shot with a 7-iron finished four metres from the cup and he rolled in the slightly uphill putt.

He admitted his low round was something of a surprise.

“It’s been a bit rough out there the first couple of days. Struggled a little bit on the greens, haven’t been swinging it great but that’s golf,” Jones said.

“I was just pretty grateful to be teeing it up today. I was right on the cut-line yesterday.”

Fellow Kiwi Mark Brown also made a sizeable move on day three, a 65 lifting him inside the top 20 ahead of what is potentially his final round at the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport.

“I will have to play myself in, not take up an invite. So tomorrow could be my last time at the New Zealand Open,” said Brown, who was runner-up in 2014, the first year of the Pro-Am format.

He has no serious thoughts of playing the PGA TOUR Champions like countryman Steve Alker, but may head to the European Staysure Tour.

“I get a one-year exemption on the (European) seniors tour courtesy of winning on the tour, so I may take up that option more for experience and travel to Europe with my wife,” he said.

While the home crowd hoped for a big Saturday charge from Millbrook member Ben Campbell and former champion Michael Hendry, the duo lost ground on the lead.

They are both at 10-under, and 12 shots back, after Campbell carded 69 and Hendry 71.

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With impressive rounds of 63-65 at Millbrook Resort, the Victorian holds second spot on the leaderboard at 14-under-par, three behind Korean Guntaek Koh, who matched the course record on the Remarkables layout today, shooting a 10-under-par 61.

Marchesani is a shot clear of China’s Bobby Bai (65-64), while first-time Millbrook visitor, West Australian Ryan Peake (67-64), is in a share of fourth at 11-under with two Asian Tour regulars, American John Catlin (67-64) and South African Ian Snyman (66-65).

Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit No.1 Elvis Smylie (66-66) is lurking, equal seventh at 10-under.

After some equipment adjustments pre-event, Marchesani didn’t miss a green in regulation on Thursday and was almost as clinical in day two.

He made his way to 16-under-par after 35 holes, only to slip up with a double-bogey six on his closing hole on the Remarkables course, one of two in use over the 36 holes.

The 31-year-old, who had just four pars in his second round to sit alongside an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys, is ready for what could be a career-defining weekend.

He has come close before to winning on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia but has had to settle for four top-three placings.

“The game’s felt close,” Marchesani said.

“I probably haven’t driven it as well as I would’ve liked the last couple of months and was able to get in here earlier than I was meant to and do a bit of work with the Callaway boys on Monday.

“I found a little bit with a driver, which has been nice.

“The putting’s been really good the last sort of six months. I sort of knew if I could get a lot of looks, the hole’s going to start looking pretty big, which it has.”

But it’s Hendry and Geary who are sure to have the most support from the local crowd on Saturday as they continue to try to become the first New Zealanders in eight years to win their national open.

As the last winner, Hendry is the perfect man to offer a reason why the home players have been experiencing a title drought in Queenstown.

“After winning a major this is my next tournament that I want to win,” the 45-year-old said.

“All the Kiwis come into this week feeling that way and that is potentially why we haven’t had a winner in a while because we want it more than the other guys.

“They can cruise around doing their thing while we are fighting for every little bit to try and win it.”\

Like his regular roommate, Geary has also had two 66s to start the week, hitting a purple patch on the back nine Friday afternoon when he grabbed four consecutive birdies.

“I had a good hot streak there for seven or eight holes,” the Vic Open champion from a fortnight ago said.

“I knew I needed to stay in touch somewhat and what I was doing at even-par or 1-under wasn’t going to cut it.

“I’m happy with how it’s turned out. It could have been a little worse.”

The next best Kiwi after 36 holes is Daniel Hillier (68-65), who is 9-under, while hometown favourite Ben Campbell (67-67) is one shot further back.

Koh’s 61 featured a hole-out for eagle on the 398-metre par-4 ninth, nine birdies and a solitary bogey.

“My iron play worked really well today and helped me to attack the greens,” Koh said.

“I’ve been working hard on my game and this week it’s paid off.”

First-time Millbrook visitor Peake’s share of fourth at 11-under-par continues his steady summer which has included four top-10 finishes on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.

A win here would be huge for the West Australian who doesn’t have status on any overseas tour and would automatically become an Asian Tour member and earn a trip to The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

“Subconsciously everyone knows what’s on the line this week, but for myself, I’ve just got to stay in the moment,” Peake said.

“My goal just basically was to get here, make sure I make the cut and give myself a reasonable chance come the weekend.

“I’ve kind of set myself up decent enough to do that.”

Another big move on Friday came from Australian David Micheluzzi, the DP World Tour member pouring in nine birdies in an 8-under-par 63 on the Remarkables course.

At 9-under overall, he’s eight shots from the lead.

“There was glimpses yesterday. I just got off to a very slow start,” Micheluzzi said.

“The last 20 holes I’ve played very solid. Played them in 10-under, so I’ll take that.”

Among those who missed the halfway cut, which came at 5-under-par, were last week’s Webex Players Series Sydney winner Nick Voke (73-66), defending champion Takahiro Hataji (69-73), and Kiwi Danny Lee (75-69) in his first NZ Open as a professional.

Eight-time PGA TOUR Champions winner Steven Alker (70-67) birdied his last three holes to make it to the weekend play by a shot.

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With nine birdies and an eagle, the Sydneysider shot a round of 9-under-par 62, his only mishap coming on the par-4 13th hole of the Remarkables course, one of two in use over the first two rounds, when his tee shot flew out of bounds, leading to a double-bogey.

Crowe, the winner of the NSW Open as an amateur in 2022 but still chasing a first big win as a professional, leads James Marchesani (Vic), who played the Coronet course, by a shot.

Two other Australians, Lucas Herbert (Vic) and Kevin Yuan (NSW), as well as Korean Guntaek Koh, are two strokes behind in a share of third at 7-under.

The leading New Zealanders, Josh Geary and Michael Hendry, are tied for ninth at 5-under-par four shots from the lead, with Ben Campbell in a share of 23rd at 4-under.

Crowe was one of the form players in the big events at the end of 2024 on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australia, rattling off a T7 at the Ford NSW Open, T8 at the BMW Australian PGA Championship and T5 at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.

However since his Christmas-New Year break, the 23-year-old has missed three consecutive halfway cuts.

“I definitely had a lot of things going my way today, and I think to shoot those rounds you have to,” Crowe said.

“I had the putter going, so it was nice to keep the momentum going after that one mistake.

“It’s starting to feel like that (the end of 2024) again. It’s been a bit of a slow start this year after a Christmas break, and it was nice to have a few things going my way today.”

Herbert, one of the pre-tournament favourites, was happy with the new putter in his bag, although a miss from three metres on his final hole prevented him for finishing in a share of second with Marchesani, who birdied the par-5 closer.

The Ford NSW Open champion is part of a Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit dogfight this week and has an early advantage over OOM No.1 Elvis Smylie, who shot a 4-under 67 on the Remarkables course.

“I felt like I’d struggled with the putter for a while and I felt like I putted okay today without being amazing, but it wasn’t bad either,” the Ripper GC squad member said.

“I hit a lot of good putts and just couldn’t get as many to go in as I would’ve liked. But look, it’s probably going to be a week of low scoring, so it was good to get off to a hot start and not feel like we’re chasing from a long way back.”

In the morning groups which were greeted my almost still conditions, Josh Geary brought the good form from his Vic Open win at 13th Beach Golf Links earlier this month to the Remarkables course which he toured in 5-under 66.

The highlight of his day were three straight birdies from the sixth to the eighth.

“I’ve been here enough. I know what to do if the weather stays calm,” Geary said.

“You’ve just got to keep your foot down and make a lot of birdies. I’d assume that’s how it’s going to go.”

Fellow Kiwi Hendry made his way to 6-under late in the afternoon before slipping up with his first bogey of the day, at the par-4 17th on the Remarkables. The former champion still content, however, with his start.

“I’m hitting it really well off the so as long as I can keep that going, I shouldn’t put myself in too much trouble and then hopefully it’s just about making some putts,” Hendry said.

Out in the second group of the day, West Australian Brett Rumford avoided a potential disaster before he even teed off to turn in a bogey-free 66 as he tries not only to contend for the title but also to keep his game in shape for seniors tour golf which looms in three years’ time.

Even with his vast experience, Rumford almost made a huge mistake when he came within a couple of minutes of missing his 7.40am tee time, thinking he was due off at 7.50am.

“That would’ve flustered me, I’m sure, back in my prime,” Rumford said.

“That definitely would’ve got on my nerves, would’ve blamed my caddie, would’ve blamed this and that. I would’ve blamed the world for it. But now it’s just ‘oh great’.

Defending champion Takahiro Hataji started with a 2-under-par 70.

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His one-shot victory over Australia’s Scott Hend at Millbrook Resort, his first big title as a professional, led to a significant confidence boost which in turn led to two wins on the Japan Golf Tour – the Kansai Open Golf Championship in May and the Vantelin Tokai Classic in September.

Excited to now see his name etched on the Brodie Breeze Trophy alongside a list of distinguished former campions, Hataji arrives back at Millbrook Resort for his title defence with an Official World Golf Ranking that is 277 places than this time last year.

“I’ve been playing professionally all my life, thinking I’d never win again, so I think being able to win here has changed things for the better,” Hataji said today.

“Yes it really boosted my confidence. I really became more conscious of wanting to win more.”

The New Zealand Open is Hataji’s first tournament for 2025 and like most players on Tour, he’s spending time tinkering with his game as he seeks even more rewards this year.

He’s in the middle of some swing “adjustments” and doesn’t expect to see the results immediately.

“But I really want to do my best to win again this week, and I hope to use this as a stepping stone for a great year,” he said.

Hataji is part of a 21-man contingent of Japanese professionals at this week’s championship, including a first-time NZ Open participant, former world No.29 Ryo Ishikawa.

The duo played a practice round on Wednesday with the current champion happy to share a “little advice” garnered from last year.

The defending champion tees off on the first hole of the Remarkables course at 12.58pm (NZ time) in round one.