Aidric Chan, Sean Ramos seal title clash; Kayla Nocum on top

MANILA, Philippines —  Aidric Chan and Sean Ramos put in a pair of sterling rounds to forge a title duel while Kayla Nocum barely survived a poor round to hang on to the girls’ lead in the third round of the Philippine Junior Amateur Open Golf Championships at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Trece Martires, Cavite yesterday.

Chan bounced back from so-so 78 and 75 in the first two days with a bogey-free 71, snapping an even-par game with a birdie on the par-5 No. 15, while Ramos recovered from a three-over card with three straight birdies from the 15th to save a 72 as the duo pooled identical 224s heading to the final 18 holes of the event serving as the third leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Tour.

Paolo Barro, who grabbed the lead halfway through the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific wavered in tough conditions and wobbled with an 82 to fall to third at 229, virtually leaving the fight for the crown in the Albatross division (15-18) to Chan and Ramos.

Carl Corpus limped with a 77 for fourth at 230 while Josh Jorge and Paolo Wong assembled a pair of 232s after 76 and 79, respectively.

Nocum  bucked a poor game after sizzling a 69 in the second round. She made a 39 at the front then double bogeyed the par-4 10th and holed out with a triple bogey on the 18th.

But her 80 still kept her on top at 226, one stroke ahead of Korean Kang Da Yun, who birdied the 18th.