GUIDO van der Valk turned what he deemed was a flawed chip into a birdie at the last, saving a 75 and catching Joenard Rates at the helm after three rounds of the ICTSI Villamor Philippine Masters at the Villamor Golf Club on Friday.
Head bowed, Van der Valk dropped both arms to his knees in frustration after chipping way past the hole on the par-5 No. 18. But the Dutchman returned a clutch 10-footer for birdie to seize a share of the lead as Rates fumbled with his par putt from shorter distance for a 77 marred by a double bogey on No. 17.
On a day when the chief contenders struggled through tough pin placements and tricky surface, van der Valk tied Rates at 212. Marvin Dumandan put himself in title contention for the first time in a long while after squeezing out a 73 to join Jhonnel Ababa, who carded a 74, in joint third place at 214.
Fidel Concepcion fired one of the day’s three best scores of 70 to move to joint fifth at 216 with Gerald Rosales and Reymon Jaraula, who matched par 72s, and Keanu Jahns, who drew level with Rates with a solid frontside 33 only to reel back witj a backside 45 for a 78.
But four strokes behind, Jahns remained in the hunt for a Philippine Golf Tour breakthrough although he will need a lot of work off the mound to revive his title hopes in the P2.5 million championship put up by ICTSI.
While Jahns struggled with his long game, van der Valk found the greens a lot tougher, flubbing par putts on Nos. 4, 5 and 7 to fall four strokes off Rates, who traded two birdies against the same number of bogeys for a 36, at the turn.
“I struggled with the speed of the greens today, I don’t know why,” said van der Valk, who bounced back from a rare missed cut stint at Luisita with a clear title shot in the very same PH Masters tournament he yielded to Jerson Balasabas in sudden death in 2018. “But definitely tomorrow (today), I have the chance to win because I wasted too many shots (yesterday).”
Despite his shaky finish, Rates remains unfazed by van der Valk’s surge, saying: “I made a couple of mistakes on club selections in the last few holes that had cost me the lead. But I’m okay, though I’m not satisfied with my game, there’s still the final round. I just need to work hard, to stay focused.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
