If Bradley Shigezawa had a say in the Pearl Country Club layout, one of the coconut trees lining the 14th fairway might be in trouble.

Shigezawa had closed the gap on T.J. Kua through 13 holes of yesterday's third round of the Hawaii State Amateur Stroke Play Championship. But his drive on No. 14 drifted right and was apparently gobbled up by one of the trees, which eventually led to a double bogey.

Kua took off from there, shooting 4 under par over the final four holes to cap a 68 and open up a five-shot cushion entering today's final round.

“;With T.J. shooting really well, I had to put a pretty good (score) down today and got a little unlucky,”; Shigezawa said after signing for a 1-under-par 71. “;Fallen a little behind, but 1 under, can't really complain too much and gotta go low tomorrow.”;

Moving day didn't produce much movement among the leaders, aside from Kua putting more space between himself and the rest of the field.

He began the day with a two-stroke lead over Shigezawa and played the first 14 holes at even par. He then drained a 15-foot putt for birdie on No. 15, sank a similar putt for eagle on the par-5 17th hole and placed his approach on No. 18 within a foot of the cup for a tap-in birdie.

The late charge left him with a three-round total of 7-under 209. Shigezawa is next at 214, followed by Zady Ari at 217 and Jonathan Ota at 218.

“;You just have to make putts,”; Shigezawa said of trying to catch Kua with 18 holes left to play. “;You have to hit a lot of greens and you have to have a lot of putts at birdie, that's the only chance you're going to have.”;

After the round Kua recalled being in a similar position two years ago in the Turtle Bay Amateur and having to fend off Shigezawa in the final round to claim the title.

“;I know anything can happen in one day,”; Kua said. “;I had a five-shot lead (at Turtle Bay) and he just sprinted back in a hurry.”;

Shigezawa might have had a bit less ground to cover today if not for the tough break at No. 14 yesterday. The Punahou senior had parred the first 10 holes of the day, then birdied holes 11 and 12. He was tied for the lead when he got a tricky par putt to fall on the par-3 13th hole while Kua bogeyed.

His next tee shot was followed by that disheartening rustle of a golf ball striking tree limbs. After the group scanned the grounds in the area, a ball was spotted up among the fronds of a coconut tree about 20 feet overhead.

“;I did see a red line on the ball, but still I can't see the company or anything, so you can't really do anything unless somebody's going to climb the tree for me,”; Shigezawa said.

While it appeared to be his ball, without being able to definitively identify it, he played it as a lost ball and took a penalty stroke and went back to the tee box to replay the shot. If he had been able to identify the ball, he could have taken an unplayable lie at that spot, saving him a stroke.

“;We had a battle going, and for Bradley's ball to get stuck in a tree like that, it was really unfortunate,”; Kua said.

Kua then gave himself some breathing room with his blistering finish.

He stretched the lead with his birdie on No. 15 and hit a 9-iron to the back of the green to set up his eagle on the 17th.

“;My reads were good; I just couldn't reach the hole,”; Kua said of some putting issues earlier in the round. “;So finally I said if I'm not going to reach I'm not going to make the putt, so I started whacking it a little bit harder.”;