Aidric Chan holed out with an eagle and fired a bogey-free four-under 67 to all but clinch the 2017 NGAP Northern Luzon Regional golf crown with a huge 12-shot lead over Carl Corpus while Harmie Constantino shot a 70 to force a tie in the women’s Elite side at the Beverly Place Golf Club in Mexico, Pampanga yesterday.
Making up for his double-bogey mishap at the closing par-5 No. 18 where he drove out of bounds Friday, Chan hit it straight off the mound this time then hacked out a superb iron shot to within 10 feet and made the putt, capping a 33-34 card that included birdies on Nos. 3 and 10.
Despite ideal condition, Corpus and the rest failed to mount any kind of challenge against the 16-year-old Ateneo mainstay, who continued to pound the short, flat par-71 layout – and the field – with his superb shotmaking and iron play and solid putting.
Corpus could only churn out a 72 although he moved to second at 147 while Kuresh Samanodi stumbled with a 75 for a 150 and erstwhile second-running Luis Castro skied to a 78 and slipped to joint fourth with Paolo Wong, turning in a 75, at 151.
Don Petil and Lanz Uy assembled identical 154s after a 76 and 78, respectively, while Kristoffer Arevalo limped with a 78 for a 157 and Pierre Ticzon and Leandro Bagtas hobbled with an 81 and 79 for 158 and 161, respectively.
But while Chan has practically put a lock on the men’s diadem, Constantino made it a two-player duel for the women’s tiara as he came through with a one-under card to join Korean Shin Seo Yun, who carded a 72, at the helm at 145.