BACOLOD CITY – Justin Quiban put on another solid game, firing a 64 to all but wrap up the ICTSI Bacolod Golf Challenge crown at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club here yesterday.
Four straight birdies from No. 2 put Quiban practically beyond reach at 14-under and the 22-year-old former amateur hotshot added two more birdies to complete a bogey-free round of 30-34 for a whopping seven-stroke bulge over Jay Bayron at 16-under 194.
It was his second straight six-under card at the tight par-70 Binitin layout which he continued to dominate with solid driving and iron play. And like in his maiden triumph at CAT Open of the Philippine Golf Tour Asia last December where he cruised to a three-stroke triumph after posting a five-shot lead in the third round, Quiban built another huge cushion in the pivotal day to virtually secure the title worth R450,000 in the first of the four-leg Visayan swing of the circuit put up by ICTSI.
“The hot start was part of my mindset today (yesterday). I wanted to have this kind of score at the frontnine to ease the pressure coming home and also to put the burden on those rallying behind,” said Quiban, who could’ve stretched his lead further if not for muffed birdie putts inside four feet on Nos. 13 and 15.
