Elmer Salvador storms ahead by 3 with 65

TARLAC, Philippines — Coming off a struggling campaign in both the Philippine Golf Tour and PGT Asia, Elmer Salvador hardly thought of putting together a round so solid it would eclipse those of three of the fancied players in the fold.

But he did – in style, churning out a bogey-free 65 that moved him past a crowded leaderboard made up of PGTA leg winners Jhonnel Ababa and Jobim Carlos and Aussie ace Tim Stewart at the start of the $100,000 CAT (Central Azucarera de Tarlac) Open at the Luisita Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

It failed to match Clyde Mondilla’s record setting 64 last week but it proved enough to net the reticent Davaoeño shotmaker a three-stroke lead, a huge cushion given the course condition and against a field teeming with talents.

“I didn’t expect to score this low but got by irons and putting going. I just hope to sustain this form to the finish,” said Salvador in Pilipino.

It was a big start indeed for a player who groped for form in the first five PGTA legs and in the last seven PGT tournaments as Salvador put on a blistering game when conditions turned from ideal to tough in afternoon play, completing a bogey-free 33-32 card that overshadowed Ababa’s equally impressive 68 along with those of Carlos and Stewart.

Ababa and Carlos dominated in the morning group with identical four-under cards with the former also completing a flawless four-birdie round and the latter birdying four of the last seven holes.

Stewart, who finished tied for second with Peter Stojanovski of Macedonia in last week’s ICTSI Luisita Invitational won by Mondilla, recovered from a bogey on No. 4 with five birdies at the back to get into the mix in the sixth leg of the second season of the region’s newest circuit.

While Salvador recovered from poor form, Mondilla floundered on poor putting after snapping a long title drought with an 18-under feat last week, settling for a three-birdie, three-bogey stint for a 72 that dropped him to joint 36th, seven strokes off the pace.

“I struggled a bit on the greens, missing at least four makeable birdie putts,” said Ababa, who considers himself lucky on PGT Asia where he won three titles, including back-to-back romps at Riviera and Pradera Verde to close out the inaugural season of the region’s newest circuit last January.