Not even Typhoon “Glenda” could stop Elmer Salvador Wednesday.
The taciturn former Philippine Open champion from Davao fired a 3-under-par 67 in demanding conditions to grab a one-shot lead over two journeymen after the opening round of the ICTSI Iloilo Challenge at the soggy Sta. Barbara course in Iloilo.
Deadly with his short game, Salvador gunned down five birdies from close range and then bucked the rains and the winds with scrambling pars in his final five holes to complete a 34-33 card.
Jun Bernis, the former National Amateur champion, and Richard Abaring shared second with 68s followed a stroke behind by Jay Bayron, Cassius Casas, Ferdie Aunzo and local boy Paul Visinica.
“It was really tough out there because of the wet conditions as we could never find an even stance (at address),” Salvador, a winner of a virtual all-Filipino Philippine Open in 2009, said in Filipino. “But I hung in there.”
Salvador bogeyed the 3rd and 11th holes after missing the green.
The fancied pair of Angelo Que and Antonio Lascuna both struggled, with Que complaining of a bum stomach in carding a 72 and Lascuna, the two-time Order of Merit champion, shooting a 71.
“I woke up with a bum stomach and never got it going all day,” said Que, who started with a 40 before draining two birdies to save his two-over card and stay in the hunt.
Orlan Sumcad, the long-hitter out of Malarayat in Lipa City, fired a 70 along with Michael Bibat at the tree-lined layout that is the oldest golf course in the Far East.
Bernis bogeyed No. 1 after a wayward drive but picked up three shots in a four-hole stretch from the fifth to again put himself in the mix for a breakthrough win.
The event is being backed by Nike Golf, Pacsports, Srixon, FootJoy, It’s More Fun in the Philippines, Callaway, Mizuno, Custom Clubmakers, Titleist, Sharp and KZG.