Van der Valk seizes TCC Invtational lead

STA. ROSA, Laguna – Guido Van der Valk checked an impending skid with a brilliant windup, birdying the 18th to salvage a 74 and snare the lead as erstwhile co-leader Jay Bayron had a disastrous finish halfway through The Country Club Invitational here yesterday.

Van der Valk had stepped out of the players’ tent ruing his day-long struggle on TCC’s tricky surface before Bayron came in with a 76.

With a three-over 147 two-day total, Van der Valk seized the lead, 36 holes away from winning back-to-back titles in the Philippine Golf Tour’s centerpiece event.

With Bayron blowing a gutsy even-par card with three straight bogeys from No. 13 and a mishap on the closing hole, Van der Valk took charge by one over Clyde Mondilla, the player he nipped in winning this event, previously billed as the Don Pocholo Memorial, in 2020.

“Mabigat yung three-over pero pwede pa din, may two rounds pa,” said Mondilla, who assembled a 148. “I need some luck on putting.”