Dutchman catches Elmer

LIPA CITY, Batangas , Philippines  – Elmer Salvador blew a three-stroke lead in the last two holes as he struggled with his approach shots and putting stroke, finishing with his first over-par round of 73 and enabling Dutch Guido Van der Valk to seize a share of the lead with a gutsy two-under 70 in the third round of the Philippine Open here yesterday.

Salvador bucked a shaky start but failed to check a faltering finish in a wind-blown day at Malarayat’s composite layout, bogeying No. 17 and flubbing a six-foot birdie putt on the last hole to barely hang on to the lead he had built with a superb 63 Wednesday and kept with a 66 in the second round.

In contrast, Van der Valk, who strung up back-to-back 66s to keep Salvador in sight, came through with a fiery windup, battling back from three strokes down with a birdie on the 17th for a two-shot swing before holing out with a tap-in birdie for that 70.

He caught up with Salvador at 14-under 202, setting the stage for a two-man shootout in the P2.5 million tournament as the third running player and defending champion Angelo Que barely closed in at 10-under 206 after an eagle-aided 69.

Artemio Murakami birdied two of the last five holes to fire a 70 but stood five strokes behind at 207 while rookie pro Ferdie Aunzo and Asian Tour veteran Tony Lascuña lay a shot farther behind at 208 after a 69 and a 73, respectively.

Rick Gibson bucked tough pin placements and made four straight birdies from No. 5, finishing with the day’s best of five-under 67 for a share of seventh with Michael Bibat, matching par 72, at 209.

Frankie Miñoza, who sparked hopes of a big comeback by the two-time champion after a 65 in the second round, also wavered coming home with a 37, settling for a 72 for joint ninth with Richard Sinfuego, who had a 73, at 210.

“I had a bad day. I kept missing my second shots,” said Salvador, the Order of Merit winner on the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour who squandered a three-shot lead with a bogey and a double-bogey in the first four holes. “It happens, maybe tomorrow (today) would be a better day.”

He actually recovered from that poor start with three straight birdies from No. 5 and even sat on a five-stroke cushion with another birdie on No. 10 as Van der Valk stumbled with a double-bogey on the ninth.

Salvador, however, missed on his approach shots and dropped three strokes from No. 12 while Van der Valk birdied Nos. 13 and 14 to draw level at 13-under total.

But Salvador came through with back-to-back birdies from No. 15 and regained a three-stroke lead as his Dutch rival bogeyed the par-4 16 with two holes to go in an eventful third round action in the country’s premier golf championship presented by Stradcom, San Miguel Corp. and 2-Go/Super Ferry.

But the Filipino bet three-putted the par-3 17th which Van der Valk birdied for another two-shot swing before the Dutch shotmaker two-putted for birdie on the par-5 18th to force a two-way tie.

“I still need to play better tomorrow (today) because there are a lot of players aside from Elmer (Salvador) who can still catch up,” said Van der Valk, who has lived in Laguna for two and a half years now.

But Que and the rest of the pursuers need no less than a brilliant round to gain a crack at the top P410,000 purse staked in the tournament sponsored by Pagcor and Jorgman Construction & Dev. Corp.

The event is sponsored by Amalgamated Motors, Orient Pearl, Mega Data Corp, Pandrol Korea, MRT, Seokwang, Zest Air, Star Infrastructure, CATS Inc, AMA Computer College, Sunwest, Alecon, Herma Group, Northwest Airlines, DMCI, Cebu Pacific and 1st Tee and 10th Tee Energy Bars.