Lipa City, Batangas-Dino Villanueva bucked harsh conditions in late afternoon play and carded a 67, forcing a three-way tie for the lead with Thai Sutijet Kooratanapisan and Erwin Arcillas in windy opener of the Summit Point World 18 Challenge here yesterday.
Villanueva, re-displaying the form that also netted him the lead in the first round of the The Players Championship here last year before finishing tied for seventh, charged back with birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 then preserved a 33-34 card with two scrambling pars in the last four to catch Kooratanapisan and Arcillas at the helm, one stroke ahead of Elmer Salvador.
Out to atone for his final round meltdown in the CAT Open at Luisita won by James Ryan Lam, Salvador sizzled with a frontside birdie-birdie finish for a 68. The veteran Davaoeño campaigner anchored his 33-35 card on solid iron play, hitting all but one green on No. 6 which he bogeyed.
This year’s Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner Jobim Carlos also rebounded from an opening hole bogey with four birdies, including three at the back, to shoot a 69 for a share of fifth with American Brett Munson and Richard Sinfuego, while Micah Shin failed to join the group with a bogey on No. 17, dropping to joint eighth instead with American Lexus Keoninh, Japanese Yuta Sudo and former PGT Asia leg winner Justin Quiban.
Jhonnel Ababa, chasing a fourth win in two seasons of the region’s newest circuit put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., rallied with two birdies at the front to save a 71, the same output put in by Ira Alido, Ferdie Aunzo, Anthony Fernando, Keanu Jahns, Nilo Salahog, Finland’s Janne Kaske, Peter Stojanovski of Macedonia, Englishman George Twyman, Taiwanese Wang Tsung Chieh, American Jeremy Wendelken and Arnold Villacencio, who upended Miguel Tabuena in sudden death to snare the PGT ICTSI Summit Point Classic crown in 2014.
But some of the big guns lurked just behind, ready to pounce on the unfancied leaders, who found themselves on top with superb display of power and control at the wind-raked Summit Point Golf Club.
Villanueva, 34, who had two missed cuts in this year’s PGTA with best finish of tied for 31st at Aboitiz Invitational, said he could’ve surged ahead if not for his flubbed birdie putts.
“I missed birdie chances in the last three holes, failed to read my line of putts right,” said Villanueva, whose best finish in the PGT was sixth in Negros last August.
Kooratanapisan earlier birdied the final hole from eight feet for a 35-32 round then watched Arcillas bogey the 18th in a flight behind to share the scoring honors in the day that also saw some of the favorites fumble and stumble at the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course which features 18 of the best golf holes in the world.
After scoring his maiden win with a near-solid final round charge, Lam turned in a disastrous round of five-over 77 marred by two double bogeys and three bogeys against two birdies on a course that yielded 22 under-par cards. At joint 82nd with four others, the 30-year-old CAT Open champion would need to shoot low today to make the top 50 plus ties cut.
Other pre-tournament favorites who struggled were PGTA Southwoods champion Jay Bayron, PGT Pueblo de Oro leg winner Kim Joo Hyung and last week’s runner-up Josh Salah of the US, who all hobbled with 74s.