MIN Wook Gwon salvaged a 75 and kept his seven-stroke lead intact while Rianne Malixi hiked her lead to three with a brave 71 in a wind-blown third round of the National Stroke Play Championship at the Riviera Golf and Country Club in Silang, Cavite yesterday.
Playing virtually pressure-free after posting a big cushion halfway through the kickoff leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Tour, Gwon yielded a number of strokes at the front in a punishing day at Langer but preserved his four-over card with a two-birdie, two-bogey finish for a 39-36, keeping the Korean way ahead of the pack at 216.
That moved the 17-year-old Gwon 18 holes away from re-claiming the crown won by compatriot and now pro tour campaigner Kim Joo Hyung in 2018 as Japanese Atsushi Ueda stood too far behind at 223 after a 72, the best under exacting conditions in men’s division.
“Despite the wind, my game was okay. I hit good putts but had another problem on No. 8, which I double-bogeyed,” said Gwon, referring to the par-3 hole, where he made a 6 Wednesday.
Junior World titlist Aidric Chan dropped to third at 225 after a second 77 in three days while SEA Games bronze medal teammate Sean Ramos shot a 73 to gain a share of fourth at 226 with Ryan Monsalve, who stumbled with a 77.
Carl Corpus also skied to a 77 for joint sixth at 227 with Weiwei Gao, who fumbled with a 79, Davaoeño Elee Bisera carded a 75 for solo eighth at 228 and last year’s champion Gen Nagai hardly improved from two 77s with a 75 for 229 in a tie with fellow Japanese Kyosuke Yoshida, who hobbled with a 78.
Malixi, meanwhile, continued to stun the field with superb shotmaking and poise rarely seen in a 12-year-old campaigner, holing out with back-to-back birdies to save an even par card for a 214 as she padded her lead to three over Abby Arevalo, who fought back from a 38 start with birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 for a 72 and a 217.
