Iloilo—Jobim Carlos ripped the Iloilo Golf and Country Club with a record eight-under 62 and stormed to a three-stroke lead over Jhonnel Ababa in the third round of the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge and into the threshold of another victory in the Philippine Golf Tour here yesterday.
Five shots behind Guido Van der Valk halfway through the P3 million ICTSI-sponsored event, Carlos closed out his brilliant 31-31 card in
ideal playing condition the way he started it – on back-to-back birdies – as he took control again at 10-under 200, three ahead of Ababa, who shot a second straight 68 for a 203, and four up on Joenard Rates.
Van der Valk failed to keep the momentum of his lead-grabbing 66 Thursday, fumbling with a three-over 73 and tumbling from top to joint fourth at 206 with Rene Menor (67) and first round leader Tim Stewart of Australia (71).
The bogey-free 62, which included birdies on Nos. 4, 6, 7 and 15, erased the previous low marks of 64 by amateurs Francisco Maravilla and Ponciano Saldana Jr. and put the hottest player on the tour 18 holes away from nailing a third victory in less than three months that also saw him post two runner-up efforts and a couple of top six finishes.
“The record was a bonus. I had a wonderful start in the tougher nine so I made sure to maintain the momentum,” said Carlos, who spiked his brilliant round with two par-saves at the back to get another crack at the crown worth P550,000.
Rates broke the record earlier with a 63 built around three straight birdies from No. 4 and five more at the back that negated his lone bogey on No. 8 until Carlos beat it with that birdie-birdie windup.
Still, the diminutive Rates, who recorded his first and only victory at John Hay in 2014, relished the chance of slugging it out with Carlos and Ababa in the championship flight at 204.
“This is a good sign because I’m really hungry for a win,” said Rates. “I stayed focused on every shot and took advantage of the good weather.”
Just two behind Van der Valk after 36 holes, Ababa actually grabbed the lead with a scorching four-birdie run in the first six holes but reeled back on putting woes. He made three putts on Nos. 8 and 15, which had he made would’ve put him right within one off Carlos.
“This will all boil down to putting,” said Ababa, still confident of scoring a follow up to his PGT Asia Forest Hills leg victory last month.
The rest stood too far behind to pose a threat in the final round of the third stop of the four-leg Visayan swing organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. with Erwin Arcillas firing a 67 to tie Keanu Jahns, who carded a 69, at 207, and Korean Park Jun Sung and Ramil Bisera shooting identical 68s for joint ninth at 208 with American Lexus Keoninh (69), Clyde Mondilla (70) and PGT Bacolod leg titlist Justin Quiban (71).
Despite his huge lead, Carlos remained wary of his rivals heading to the last 18 holes of the event backed by BDO, KZG, Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Sharp, Champion, Summit Mineral Water and PLDT.
“It would be another challenge, just like what happened in Negros last week when I faced seasoned Juvic (Pagunsan) in a playoff. They (Ababa and Rates) also turned in great scores so I will have to keep in step with them,” said Carlos, who rallied to drag the fancied Pagunsan to a playoff before yielding on the second extra hole at Marapara last week.
But the way Carlos is playing of late —with victories at PGT Asia Riviera and PGT Apo, Ababa and Rates will have to come up with real low rounds and some kind of pressure to shake off the 25-year-old rising star, who holed in from eight feet on No. 12 and a difficult downhiller from 12 feet on the 16th to preserve his unblemished card.
