In-form Salvador guns for ADT double
ELMER Salvador will try to become the first back-to-back leg winner on the Asean Development Tour when he leads a star-studded field in the Mt. Malarayat Championship in Lipa City starting this Wednesday.
The $65,000, 72-hole event, comes just four days after Salvador put on a scorching scoring display at Cebu Country Club to win the Aboitiz Invitational for the second straight year.
Salvador’s one-stroke victory over Angelo Que in Cebu made him the first player to ever defend a championship on the ADT tour.
He has a chance to set another record by winning a second straight title against the same field he conquered last Saturday.
“Just wait until my putting clicks,” Que told Salvador in jest on the flight back to Manila Saturday. He later said that he wished he had Salvador’s magical touch on the greens that day.
Salvador finished off his foes in Cebu by draining long putts, including a 35-footer to save par on the No. 8 that kept Que at bay.
“Everyone will be after me, the pressure will be double at Malarayat,” said Salvador.
The soft-spoken 43-year-old native of Davao, knows what it takes to win at Malarayat, an up-and-down course south of Manila with blind holes. He won the Philippine Open there in 2009, with Que placing third behind the Netherlands’ Guido Van Der Valk.
Van Der Valk, who was third in Cebu, and a slew of other foreign players, will also be at Malarayat, ensuring a wide open title chase.
