Ryo Ishikawa surfaced at the top of the Canon Open leaderboard Saturday by shooting a 69 for the third straight day.
Ishikawa, who started the day in sixth place one shot off the pace, had four birdies against a bogey to move into a three-way tie for the lead with Hideto Tanihara and Shinichi Yokota on 9-under 207.
Tanihara shot the day's low of 66 as rain soaked the Totsuka Country Club, where defending champion Yuta Ikeda carded a 75 leaving him back in 29th.
"There were some putts that I thought would fall, but it didn't happen," Ishikawa said. "I had an intense 18 holes today, and it's taken a lot out of me.