Angelo Que shoots a flawless 63 to zoom into title contention. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
With preferred lies rules in play, the layout formerly known as Binitin was at the mercy of the ICTSI Bacolod Golf Challenge field on Wednesday with only 16 of the 44 players advancing to the weekend failing to break par, the lead now shared by three bets and no more than two strokes separating the Top 10 from the pace.
Angelo Que was like firing darts out there, going flawless in a seven-under-par 63 to claim a piece of the 36-hole lead with young Aidric Chan, who fired a 66, and 52-year-old journeyman Rico Depilo, whose 64 put him in position for that long-awaited breakthrough.
“I got my shots close today, made no mistakes,” was what Que, a former Philippine Open champion and multileg winner on the Asian Tour, said as he takes a 132 aggregate into the money rounds.
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“I got lucky today, it was all luck,” Depilo said in Filipino after he also went bogey-free. I didn’t expect to shoot this low and my problem now is I always get tired in the third and fourth rounds.”
Chan, meanwhile, rued several bungled chances for birdies as the young gun chases his first championship as a pro after a decorated amateur career.
“I have to improve on my putting,” Chan said after a 34-32 card that featured six birdies against two bogeys.
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South Korean Tae Soo-kim made the biggest move of the day as his 62 vaulted him into a share of fourth spot with Jonel Ababa (65), Reymon Jaraula (66) and Hyun Ho-rho, another Korean who assembled a 68 to be just a shot off the lead.
First round leader Albin Engino returned a 72 to now be five back, while Iloilo leg winner Zanieboy Gialon submitted a 68 to go with his opening 74 to be nine adrift. INQ