STA. ROSA, Laguna – Guido Van der Valk birdied the 18th to salvage a 74 and grab the lead as erstwhile co-leader Jay Bayron wavered in a disastrous finish halfway through The Country Club Invitational on Wednesday.
Van der Valk had already stepped out of the players’ tent ruing his day-long struggle on TCC’s tricky surface long before Bayron limped home with a 76 in the day's final flight, handing the Dutchman the lead at three-over 147.
Guido on track for TCC double
“I hit it pretty good today (yesterday) but didn’t really hole enough putts inside 8 feet,” said Van der Valk after moving 36 holes away from completing back-to-back championships in the Philippine Golf Tour’s centerpiece event.
Clyde Mondilla, who played in the threesome of Van der Valk and Michael Bibat, settled for a 75 that put the Del Monte ace just one stroke adrift of the lead.
Bayron’s fumbling finish and a four-over card dropped him to joint third at 149 with Gialon and Micah Shin, whose even par 72s proved as the best on another punishing day and after 36 holes of the championship.
Gialon, runaway winner at Caliraya Springs last year, missed joining Mondilla at second with a last-hole bogey, while Shin, the 2018 TCC champion, squandered his bid for joint lead with a double-bogey on the layout’s signature par-3 17th.
Young Sean Ramos hobbled with bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 for a 75 but stayed in the hunt at sixth with 150, three strokes off Van der Valk, while first round co-leader Jerson Balasabas wound up with a birdie-less 78 and slipped to joint seventh at 151 with Frankie Minoza (74), Art Arbole (75), Michael Bibat (76) and Marvin Dumandan (77).
Jhonnel Ababa and Mars Pucay matched 78s for identical 152s while 2004 champion Tony Lascuna hardly improved from a 77 with a 76 for a 153 in a tie with Ira Alido, who limped home with a 77. Lloyd Go lost three strokes on the 17th and wound up with a 78 for a 154, seven strokes off the defending champion.
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