Dy forces three-way jam with late birdie

SAN DIEGO, California – Jed Dy saved the day for an embattled Philippine campaign by grabbing a share of the lead in the boys 9-10 division with a two-under-par 60 in the penultimate round Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) of the 47th Callaway Junior World golf championships here. 

The 10-year-old Dy, an incoming fifth grader at the Chinese International School Manila seeking his second win since topping the 7-8 years bracket two years ago, battled the tough conditions with bold plays at the Lawrence Welk Resort Foundation course and capped his round by sinking a five-foot birdie on the 18th hole for  a three-way tie for the lead with first-day leader Ken Shibata of Japan and Hawaii’s Joshua Hayoshida.

Shibata, leading Jed by six at the start of the day, soared to a 66 while Hayoshida rallied with a 58 to also put themselves in front in a wild and wooly chase for the top plum in Thursday’s (Friday Manila time) final round where at least nine kids are within four strokes or less off the pace.

While Daniella Uy and Miya Legaspi remained among the top 10 in the girls 15-17 years play at Torrey Pines North, all the rest of the Pinoy kids campaigning in this event featuring 1,200 golfers from 50 countries faltered in the face of an intense scoring in most of the age-group battles.

The lanky Uy fired a three-under 69 for 140, five shots off the Thai leader who stood at 135 after a 66 and was tied for fifth while Legaspi carded a 71 for 141 and solo ninth place.

Yuka Saso and Harmie Constantino were third and fourth, respectively, in girls 13-14 at the Country Club of Rancho Bernardo but were just too far behind the runaway leader from Thailand who is on a record-breaking spree.

Saso added a 68 to her 70 for 138 while Constantino improved slightly with a 69 for 139. Those scores could have been good enough to put them close to the leader, but it was not the case as Papangkorn Tavatanakit of Thailand came through with an eye-popping 12-under 60 for a 19-under total of 125 that many considered already unbeatable.

“We’re hoping for the best tomorrow, Jed is familiar with championship pressure so  he’ll be fine,” said Dy’s coach Mike Cedo who had followed him in his first two rounds. 

Dy showed his resilience when he recovered from an early bogey on the fourth hole with back-to-back birdies on the seventh from 30 feet and eighth from three feet. He got to two under with a tap-in birdie on the 12th but gave it back when he missed a short two-foot sidehill, downhill putt from two feet on the 12th.