Luis Castro pulls away; Harmie Constantino storms ahead

MANILA, Philippines — Luis Castro turned in a second straight 71 and padded his lead to eight even as Harmie Constantino battled back from three down to seize control in girls’ play with a 73 halfway through the Philippine Junior Amateur Golf Championship at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Trece Martires, Cavite yesterday.

While his rivals continued to struggle at the challenging par-72 layout, Castro sustained his form, bucking an early two-bogey mishap with back-to-back birdies from No. 7 and rebounding from another bogey miscue on the 11th with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16.

With a 142 aggregate, Castro took a whopping eight-stroke bulge over Ramos, who recovered from an opening 77 with a 73 but still stood too far behind at 150.

Carl Corpus, who started the round just three shots off Castro, failed to keep a par-game stint after seven holes, bogeying two of the next three and limping with a backside 40 for a 78 and a 152.

Paolo Wong fumbled with an opening 41 and saved an even-par backside for a 77 and a 154 while Riggs Illescas also matched par at the back but finished with a 78 for a 159 in the 72-hole tournament sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation and held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.