Carl Corpus slowed down with three bogeys in his last seven holes on Thursday, settling in keeping a four-stroke lead over a new pursuer after a two-under-par 70 heading into the final round of the P2 million ICTSI Valley Golf Championship at the Antipolo complex’s tough South course.
The 24-year-old looked headed to running away with his maiden PGT victory early, only to drop shots on the 12th, 13th and 17th holes for a 54-hole 204 over a layout he calls home, which allowed Aidric Chan, who fired a 66, back in the fight.
‘There wasn’t any pressure,’ Corpus said when asked what went wrong in that birdie-less stretch. ‘I just hit my approaches far from my targets. I just need to make better decisions (in the final round) to be honest.’
Angelo Que crept closer to a first-ever Order of Merit (OOM) title after rebounding with a 70 to be six shots behind like Dutchman Guido van der Valk, who returned a 69, even as Fidel Concepcion, the only man with a shot at toppling Que for the season-ending crown, shot himself in the foot with a 76 on moving day to be seven behind Que.
Chan also had an eagle-spiked round that also featured six birdies. And he didn’t hide the fact that he will cherish his final round grouping with his cousin Corpus a lot on Friday.
‘I’m excited to play with Carl,’ said Chan. ‘It’s something we’ve both dreamed of since we were young-to compete at the top level together. I’ll just play my game and let God’s plan work. I do better when I focus on my process and enjoy the round.’
Antonio Lascuña finally got into a groove, shooting a week-best 64 that had the five-time OOM champ zooming from the bottom of the pack to ninth with a 213, tied with Jhonnel Ababa and Ira Alido, who matched 69s.
Despite his wobbly finish, Corpus exuded confidence because he believed that he could survive the South course’s most brutal tests.