GUIDO Van der Valk pulled through in a gripping battle of nerves winning The Country Club Invitational by one on Saturday at the TCC course in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Par on the closing hole won it for Van der Valk against Clyde Mondilla’s wet bogey.
Van der Valk blew a three-stroke lead with six holes left in calmer conditions as Clyde Mondilla charged back with back-to-back birdies from No. 13 but the Dutchman toughened up in the stretch, matching the Del Monte star’s pars in the next three before outwitting him on tough finishing hole.
“That was stressful,” Van der Valk said after clinching it with a pressure-packed five-foot par putt on the 18th for a 75 and a seven-over 295 total.
Van der Valk made it three straight years that a foreign player topped the event Koreans Micah Shin and Kim Joo Jyung. He also pocketed P1.5 million, more than his combined P1 million earnings in his first two Philippine Golf Tour victories.
“It was all consistency. I was leading the whole time. Had a good start in the first two rounds and I tried to hang on from there as good as I could,” said Van der Valk. “Even without the wind, it was so stressful to play this course. Every hole, there is really something that makes it difficult. I was just lucky to hold on.”
It was a sorry setback for Mondilla, who had appeared headed for a big finish after that birdie-birdie blast to tie but failed to get it through the treacherous closing hole for the second straight day and dumped his approach shot into the water. He wound up with a bogey and settled for a 74 for a 296 worth P700,000.
Ahead by two after 54 holes, Van der Valk bogeyed two of the first six holes, enabling Mondilla to draw level with a birdie on No. 7.
Van der Valk recovered and pounced on his rival’s bogeys in the next two, including a two-shot swing on the ninth with a birdie to regain a three-stroke lead at the turn. After both bogeyed the 10th, however, Mondilla cashed in on his own two-shot swing on No. 13 then birdied the next to force a tie again at seven-over overall, setting the stage for the thrilling finish.
Reymon Jaraula took third place at 301 with a closing 72, earning him P400,000.
Michael Bibat wound up fourth at 306 after a 74 and received P300,000. Tony Lascuna, TCC winner in 2004, and Rupert Zaragosa shot 79s and dropped to joint fifth at 305 with Zanieboy Gialon (74), Spain’s Marcos Pastor (76) and Keanu Jahns (77). Each got P186,000.
Jay Bayron limped with six bogeys and two double bogeys for a birdie-less 82 and tumbled to 10th at 306, just a stroke ahead of 2013 winner and Frankie Miñoza, who closed out with a gutsy 73.
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