Late birdies send Go past faltering Korean

MANILA, Philippines - Lloyd Jefferson Go picked up two quick birdies at the back and went on to shoot a two-under 70 then pounced on Korean Park Min Ung’s shaky finish to grab a one-stroke lead at the start of the WWWExpress-DHL Amateur Golf Championship at Cangolf’s north course in Laguna yesterday.

Go, spearhead of the back-to-back champion Cebu Country Club team in the recent PAL Interclub, hit a pair of back-to-back birdies from Nos. 7 and 10 to negate two early bogeys and seize control of the 46-player field chasing one of the country’s premier crowns with that 70.

Park actually headed to the par-4 18th with a three-under card but holed out with a double-bogey for a 71, enabling the Cebuano bet to gain early control in the 72-hole tournament serving as part of the PLDT Group Amateur Golf Tour.

Chris Mamaril turned in a best start of three straight birdies but went on a rollercoaster ride the rest of the way, finishing with a 34-37 to tie Park at second while Marco Olives, John Kier Abdon, Gen Nagai and Korean Yoon Sung Hwan all made 72s for joint fourth.

Alabang’s Keanu Jahns, one of the early favorites in the event backed by Pancake House, Nike, Golf Depot and Pacsports, struggled with 38-37 and joined five others at seventh that includes Wolen Superal, Swede Johan Wiberg, Norman dela Peña, Francis Morilla and Kenneth Kano.

Rupert Zaragosa, another fancied bet, never recovered from a triple-bogey mishap on No. 3, ending up seven strokes off Go at 77. Other seven-over par scorers were Justin Quiban, Korean Woo Kim Tae and Brent Sumampong.

Meanwhile, action in the 54-hole women’s event gets going today with the whole ICTSI team seeing action, headed by the multi-titled pair of Dottie Ardina and Princess Superal.

Others vying for crown are former ICTSI team member Andie Unson, former Philippine Ladies champion Cyna Rodriguez and a slew of top players from the country’s leading clubs.