Lois Kaye Go during the ICTSI Palos Verdes action. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The siblings LJ and Lois Kaye Go gutted out superlative rounds on Wednesday to stay at the top of their respective divisions in the ICTSI Palos Verdes Championship in Davao, with Lois Kaye moving just 18 good holes away from nailing down a maiden pro championship in her second try.
Despite closing out with a bogey, Lois Kaye still salvaged a one-under-par 71 to open up a two-shot lead over the seasoned Chihiro Ikeda and vowed to keep her emotions in check in completing a breakthrough triumph that will announce her coming into the play-for-pay ranks.
“I’m trying to focus on myself, how I handle my emotions,” Go said as she takes a 143 aggregate into Thursday’s final round where she will try to hold off Ikeda, who assembled a 72. “There are great players out there and anyone can shoot a good round.”
READ: Go siblings grab attention at Palos Verdes
Laure Duque also carved out a 72 to be four strokes off even as Mafy Singson, the heartbreak runner-up finisher last week at Apo, signed for the second and last sub-par card of the week, a 71, that got her within a top 10 finish at 154.
Meanwhile, LJ had five birdies in a 70 as he opened up a two-stroke lead over Ira Alido and the dangerous Angelo Que with a 137 aggregate at the halfway mark of the P2.5 million men’s division.
LJ’s three bogeys for the week came inside the 10-stretch from No. 9 and that allowed Alido, who fired a 71, and Que, the many-time Asian Tour leg winner who shot a 67, to come breathing down his neck.
READ: Sarah Ababa fancied in Palos leg
“My target is to drive into the fairways, but I hit it everywhere,” said LJ of his roller-coaster round. “So my short game really saved me, I chipped and putted well.”
Guido van der Valk of The Netherlands lost a lot of ground. He started the day just three shots back, but a 74 pulled him out of the top 10 as some of the big guns have struggled over the well-manicured layout.
The veteran Antonio Lascuña, who missed the playoff by one shot last week at Apo Golf where Jonel Ababa won, fired a second straight 73 to be nine shots behind heading into the final two rounds of the Mindanao stop.
Sean Ramos, who shared the first round lead with LJ, slipped with a 73 to now be three off thepace, with Michael Bibat also making a move by shooting a 69 to be four behind.
“It’s going to be a back-and-forth battle. Putting will be key and I hope to have a good finish this week,” said Alido, who hit a superb 4-iron second shot from 230 yards to the edge of green on No. 1 and chipped in for eagle.
Ababa opened with a 76 and hardly improved, with a second round 74 allowing him to make the cut on the dot and with plenty of ground to make up in the final 36 holes.