ANTIPOLO CITY – Hounded by a throng of pursuers in a rousing frontside battle, Reymon Jaraula repelled them with a decisive birdie-eagle feat from No. 10 for a 71 and a five-stroke victory over Lloyd Go and Clyde Mondilla Friday, June 9 in the ICTSI Valley Golf Challenge here.
Mondilla did match Jaraula’s exploits on Nos. 10 and 11 to wrest solo second but failed to gain any stroke in the stretch with a spate of pars marred by a couple of late bogeys, his drive to end a long title drought hampered by a missed birdie putt from four feet on par-4 No. 9 of Valley South.
In contrast, Jaraula fueled his own bid with a big par-save on the same hole, punching a shot from the trees to the front of the green then chipping way past the sloping hole. But he returned a pressure-packed putt from six feet, drawing subdued applause from the gallery, that, however, was left in virtual shock as Mondilla blew his birdie try from close range.
Averting a possible 2-shot swing, Jaraula kept his overnight two-stroke lead intact over Alido while holding off the charges of Korean Chon Koo Kang, Japanese Ueda Atsushi, Jhonnel Ababa, Go and Mondilla in a round that started in a shaft of sunlight, played through dark skies midway through before ending in sweltering conditions at mid-noon.
The Del Monte ace then pulled away by 5 with that big backside blast, coupled with Alido’s uncharacteristic double-bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13, that not even his miscues on Nos. 16 and 18 could derail his claim to a second Philippine Golf Tour crown.
Jaraula’s 10-under 278 total netted him P360,000, four years after hitting paydirt with a playoff victory over Tony Lascuña at Pueblo de Oro.
Go rallied with a 69 to tie Mondilla, who scrambled for a 72, at second at 283 and received P186,000 each while Aidric Chan took the low amateur honors with a day-best 66 as he fashioned out a strong joint fourth place finish with recent Villamor Philippine Masters winner Ababa, who also closed out with 72, at 284.
Alido missed his birdie chance on No. 10 but birdied the next although his mishaps in the next two holes dropped him out of the title chase. The Bacolod leg winner wound up with a 76 and finished at joint sixth at 285 with Zanieboy Gialon, who shot a 69, Gabriel Manotoc, Rico Depilo and Guido van der Valk, who matched 70s, and Keanu Jahns and Lascuna, who carded identical 72s.
Jaraula’s bogeys in the first two holes had hinted at the coming of a wild finish to the P2 million championship put up by ICTSI and though Alido, who started the final round two shots off the former, also tripped with two bogeys in the first three holes, it enabled at least seven players to get a crack at the crown.
They included Kang and Ueda with the former moving within two with a frontside 34 and the latter putting in a 35 to close within three as Jaraula and Alido wrestled with 37s.
