Mondilla grabs lead over Casas, 2 others

Clyde Mondilla fired a five-under-par 67 yesterday to wrest a two-stroke lead over defending champion Cassius Casas and two others going into the final 18 holes of the ICTSI Canlubang Golf Invitational.

A former national champion still in search of his first win as a pro, the long-hitting Mondilla went bogey-free for the first time this week, gunning down four of his five birdies coming home for a 206 aggregate at the tree-lined North layout in Laguna.

Arnold Villacencio, the champion two weeks ago at Summit Point who boldly declared that he has a “90 percent chance” of winning here, backed up his word with an eagle-spiked 65 that put him in the company of Casas and the fading Jessie Balasabas at 208.

Casas, who defeated Mondilla in a playoff to rule this event last year, returned a second straight 70, while Balasabas, who didn’t have a bogey in the first two rounds to go 11-under, shot himself in the foot with a 75.

“I really want this tournament for a breakthrough (pro win) after losing in the playoff last year,” the soft-spoken Mondilla said in Filipino.

With the leaders seemingly knowing what it takes to conquer the Robert Trent Jones-designed layout, Casas said it will be nothing less than a shootout in the final round.

“This is going to be a great final round with a lot of players having chances to win,” Casas, the former Philippine Open champion, said in Filipino.

Villacencio believes that, to win, he would need another 65 today.

“Bad putting,” Balasabas said after his mediocre third-round effort. “I missed more than five very short putts. The good thing is that I still have a chance in the final round.”

Marvin Dumandan rallied with a 68 and stood four shots off Mondilla along with Zanie Boy Gialon, who shot a 70 and Charles Hong and Dante Becierra, who fired a 71 and 72, respectively. Musong R. Castillo