Jhonnel Ababa and Zanieboy Gialon hit late birdies to card identical 69s then watched Jay Bayron hole out with a triple-bogey to snatch a one-stroke lead halfway through the ICTSI Calatagan Golf Challenge at the Calatagan Golf Club in Batangas yesterday.
Bayron looked headed to preserving an unblemished round for the second straight day when he rattled off six birdies in a nine-hole stretch from No. 13 to move 3-up of the field with at eight-under overall total. But veteran Davaoeño shotmaker, a two-leg winner last year, stumbled with his first bogey on No. 6 then dropped off the leaderboard with a wayward drive on the par-4 ninth and a poor approach shot.
He settled for a second 70, enabling Ababa and Gialon to take charge at five-under 139 after matching outputs for the second straight day in the R2.5 million tournament sponsored by ICTSI.
