Corpus finishes with a wobble but stays four ahead
Carl Corpus slowed down with three bogeys in his last seven holes on Thursday, settling in keeping a four-stroke lead over a new pursuer after a two-under-par 70 heading into the final round of the P2 million ICTSI Valley Golf Championship at the Antipolo complex’s tough South course.
The 24-year-old looked headed to running away with his maiden PGT victory early, only to drop shots on the 12th, 13th and 17th holes for a 54-hole 204 over a layout he calls home, which allowed Aidric Chan, who fired a 66, back in the fight.
“There wasn’t any pressure,” Corpus said when asked what went wrong in that birdie-less stretch. “I just hit my approaches far from my targets. I just need to make better decisions (in the final round) to be honest.”
Angelo Que crept closer to a first-ever Order of Merit (OOM) title after rebounding with a 70 to be six shots behind like Dutchman Guido van der Valk, who returned a 69, even as Fidel Concepcion, the only man with a shot at toppling Que for the season-ending crown, shot himself in the foot with a 76 on moving day to be seven behind Que.
Chan also had an eagle-spiked round that also featured six birdies. And he didn’t hide the fact that he will cherish his final round grouping with his cousin Corpus a lot on Friday.
“I’m excited to play with Carl,” said Chan. “It’s something we’ve both dreamed of since we were young—to compete at the top level together. I’ll just play my game and let God’s plan work. I do better when I focus on my process and enjoy the round.”
Antonio Lascuña finally got into a groove, shooting a week-best 64 that had the five-time OOM champ zooming from the bottom of the pack to ninth with a 213, tied with Jhonnel Ababa and Ira Alido, who matched 69s.
Despite his wobbly finish, Corpus exuded confidence because he believed that he could survive the South course’s most brutal tests.
