Jhonnel Ababa pulled off a rare two pitch-in eagle feats to spike a second straight 67 as he broke off a tie with Tony Lascuña to seize a two-stroke lead over a charging Zanieboy Gialon halfway through the ICTSI Del Monte Championship at Del Monte Golf Club in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon yesterday.
Ababa sustained a bogey-free start Wednesday with a birdie-eagle charge on the first two holes but went on a rollercoaster ride from there, fumbling with four bogeys against the same number of birdies although his other eagle on the par-4 10th and superb putting kept him on top at 10-under 134.
“My putting clicked although I misread some putts that led to bogeys,” said Ababa, who highlighted his 33-34 card with a brilliant 60-degree wedge shot from 70 yards that dropped in on No. 2 and a 56-degree feat from 90 yards that rolled into the cup on No. 10.
In control of the stellar field, Ababa vowed to keep attacking the mountaintop course that virtually lay defenseless in the absence of the wind, enabling 23 others to turn in under-par scores for the second straight day.
“I’ll still go for eagles tomorrow (today), hopefully at the par-5s,” added the winningest player on the Philippine Golf Tour Asia with four victories.
Gialon, still in hunt for a first PGT crown since dominating the field by six at Calatagan, Batangas in 2017, sizzled with six birdies in a 10-hole stretch from No. 4 and shot the tournament-best 65 in hot conditions to wrest solo second at 136 for a spot in the final group in today’s pivotal round of the P2.5 million tournament serving as the seventh leg of the 10th season of the circuit put up by ICTSI.
“Finally, I got my game going,” said Gialon, who birdied the first two holes then rebounded from a bogey on the third with three straight birdies from No. 4 and added three more on Nos. 9, 11 and 13. “ I could’ve shot better if not for missed putts on the last two par-5s.”
Lascuña also gunned down two eagles but on the layout’s par-5s at the back (Nos. 14 and 18) but shot just two birdies against four bogeys and settled for a 70 as he dropped to joint third at 137 with unheralded Elmer Saban and a steady Ira Alido, who carded 68 and 69, respectively, heading to the last 36 holes of what looms to be a fiery shootout among the best and the brightest plus a couple of surprises.
Fil-German Keanu Jahns fired a 68 for solo sixth at 138 while Johvanie Abaño bounced back from an opening 73 with a 66, including five birdies at the front, to take the cudgels for the local talents. Joining him at 139 are Richard Sinfuego and Dutch Guido Van der Valk, who both shot 69s.
Noel Langamin, who led Del Monte’s Interclub title romp in 2011, missed joining Abaño at seventh with a late bogey mishap at the front, finishing with a 68 and dropping to joint 10th with Greg Gonzales of the US, who turned in a second 70, and reigning Philippine Open champion and top local favorite Clyde Mondilla, who carded a 69.
Juvic Pagunsan, eyeing a record fifth PGT victory after a sweep of four tournaments in Bacolod, Negros, Iloilo and Riviera, checked his skid in time, hitting an eagle on the par-5 No. 7 and holing out with a birdie on the ninth to save a 73 for a 142, eight strokes behind Ababa.
Reymon Jaraula, who scored a breakthrough at Pueblo de Oro last week, likewise battled back from a disastrous 74 with a 69 but remained too far behind the lead at 143.
Forty-one players advanced to the final 36 holes of the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. with Jay Bayron (76), Mel Cubillo (73), Mhark Fernando (75), Japanese Kanata Nakagawa (75) and Argentina’s Emilio Parodi (76) barely making the cut at 148 in the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc.