I mentioned it last week, but this caddy guy with Tonbo’s group  (I mean I assume it’s a group, but we never seem to see the other players) really needs to shut up. Seriously, just put a sock in it. I don’t know how these things typically work with amateur events in Japan but having a “caddy” for the entire group is weird to me to begin with. Normally you’d have a marshal who’s strictly there as an observer, and only in really big events would you have individual caddies. But these folks seem to be sort of general advisors. And this dude’s constant barrage of comments to Tonbo is horrible. I said she caught a break not being paired with the big three, but this certainly mitigates that (I’ll take the oba-san with them any day).

The first headline moment here is that Hinoki’s foray into honesty aborted pretty quickly. Tonbo gave her an out, and she took it. But taking a stroke now doesn’t “make up” for lying about the ball moving the day before. She signed an incorrect scorecard, she should be disqualified, and she knows that very well. As nasty a piece of work as her father is, I’m losing all sympathy for Hinoki at this point. She understands what she’s doing and she chooses to keep up the charade. It’s wrong, and she’s wrong. If there’s any justice she’ll be exposed one way or the other, but I hope it’s because her shame gets the better of her and she comes clean.

The other two in the final group continue to play their own game. Tsubura is relentlessly analytical – and cautious. Every decision is premised on minimizing pressure and avoiding mistakes. It’s not the most exciting style of golf but it’s perfectly legitimate and often very successful. Take her decision to hit a utility club off the tee on the long par 5 – it makes perfect sense. She’s absolutely right that it’s easier to spin a full shot than a pitch from 40 or 50 yards. But laying back has risks too, and because her second shot didn’t go quite far enough she was “between clubs” – a classic dilemma in competitive golf. Take a little off the longer club or hit the shorter one more than 100% – each has drawbacks. And less spin is one with the longer club and three-quarter swing.

Then we have Ema, who’s more in focus this week than she has been since her introduction. The wind has wreaked havoc with her game, which has a certain fragility to it thanks to her homemade swing. But an ever bigger problem is her left leg, which seems to be on the brink of giving up the ghost. She manufactures a brilliant if lucky eagle on that long par 5, which the other two are only able to par (yes, strong wind impacts putts, too). But even with a swing designed specifically to minimize pressure on her left leg, it’s in doubt whether she’ll hold up for the final few holes.

Tonbo keeps right on rolling – hitting “dabo (sick)” shots hole after hole. But that’s necessitated in part because her driver has started to fail her. This prompts a lot of the blather from the caddy, whose incredulity over the way this weird girl plays the game he’s in the process of flaming out of never fails to be expressed. One of Tonbo’s errant tee shots lands her in a divot – right after Ema makes her eagle to open a three shot lead. Divots are part of the game – bad luck to be sure, but they happen. This forces yet more crazy imagination from Tonbo, who for the moment at least casts off bad advice and keeps playing the way she knows how to play.

The question of pressure is obviously going to be taking center stage now. The other three are feeling it each for their own reasons. but Tonbo is by no means immune. Especially with idiot boy reminding her about how much the folks back home want her to win. For Tonbo, “beating people” has never been what golf is about, but that is what being a competitive golfer is all about. Igaiga has already explained how this works to her. It’s about the heart – what it wants (birdies, looking cool) and doesn’t want (shanks, three putts, failure). He says he’s keen to see how Tonbo responds to her first bout of golf pressure – and indeed, that experience is far more important for her than whether she wins or loses. That said, it’s also important that she wants to win – if she intends to play the game seriously…