Birdie binge gives Gwon 7-shot lead
SILANG, Cavite – Unperturbed by an early mishap, Korean Gwon Min Wook struck back with a birdie spree at the back and salvaged a two-over 73, storming away by seven over Aidric Chan and Weiwei Gao midway through the National Stroke Play Championship at Riviera’s Langer course here yesterday.
But Lois Kaye Go failed to sustain a superb 68 start Tuesday and blew a big five-stroke lead with a horrible frontside 42 in overcast skies and windy conditions. She failed to recover at the back with a 40 for an 82, and fell with thud to joint third in women’s play now paced by young Rianne Malixi, who shot a gutsy 70.
The 17-year-old Gwon, who matched Go’s opening three-under card to take charge by two over Ryan Monsalve in the premier men’s division of the kickoff leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour season, broke a run of pars with a bogey-triple-bogey mishap from No. 7. But he regrouped and birdied the first four holes at the back in stirring fashion to stay in firm control in a rain-hit day.
However, he slowed down with two bogeys in the last five for that 39-34 and a 36-hole total of 141, seven shots ahead of Chan and Gao, who pooled identical 148s after 71 and 75, respectively. Monsalve bogeyed the first two holes and ended up with a 79 to fall to solo fourth at 149.
“It was very hard today (yesterday),” said Gwon, referring to his triple bogey on the par-3 No. 8 off an errant tee-shot into the deep rough, where he needed two shots to get to the green before missing a short putt for double-bogey.
But he recovered big at the backside of the par-71 layout where he used to train before his family moved back to Korea in 2017, bucking tough pin placements to birdie the 10th and 11th inside four feet. He then chipped in for another birdie from 10 yards on the next before drilling a 15-footer for another birdie on No. 13.
Carl Corpus carded a 75 for 150 while Japanese Atsushi Ueda and Kyosuke Yoshida moved to joint sixth at 151 after 75 and 77, respectively. Elee Bisera also shot a 75 for joint eighth at 153 with Sean Ramos, who wobbled with a 79.