Fidel Concepcion —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Under siege the whole round, Fidel Concepcion played it steady in the back nine to shoot a three-under-par 67 and pad his lead to two shots over Zanieboy Gialon halfway through the P2.5-million Philippine Golf Tour’s ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge at difficult Sta. Barbara.
The 28-year-old gunned down all of his four birdies coming out and then held his nerve on the homeward trip with pars to take a nine-under 131 aggregate into the weekend as he continues his search for a maiden pro triumph.
“I have a pretty good game plan and I will stick to it,” Concepcion said after 11 total birdies in the first 36 holes over what could be the shortest course in the circuit this year at just over 6,000 yards. “I’ll give it (first win) my best shot.”
Gialon fired nine total birdies—six of them in his first nine holes—to card a 64 and become the newest pursuer, even as the seasoned Jonel Ababa also made his move by shooting a tournament-best 63 to be three shots off.
“Hopefully, I can keep this momentum going tomorrow,” said Gialon.
Big guns in pursuit
And with Antonio Lascuña and another former Order of Merit winner, Guido Van Der Valk, just another shot behind after a 68 and 70, respectively, Concepcion will basically be trying to fend off the cream of the field’s crop starting with the third round on Thursday.
Meanwhile, in the P1-million ladies division, Sarah Ababa submitted a 68—the only subpar card of the week—to seize a one-stroke lead over Chihiro Ikeda heading into Thursday’s final 18 holes.
With her father on the bag, Ababa bounced back from an uncharacteristic double bogey 6 on No. 2 with four birdies in her final 14 holes for a 141 tally.
“My putting clicked, and I played more relaxed with my father on the bag,” said Ababa in Filipino. “There’s pressure when I miss shots or putts because he gets upset, but I turned that into a positive by improving on my mistakes.”
Ikeda matched par to be three ahead of Princess Superal, who shot a 71. Gretchen Villacencio is another shot back after shooting a 74.