BUKIDNON — Clyde Mondilla lived up to the hype and he did it in style, coming through with two eagles, including a 14-foot putt on No. 18 that spiked an eight-under 64 for a one-stroke lead over an equally hot-starting Rupert Zaragosa after 18 holes of the ICTSI Del Monte Championship here yesterday.

While he expected to flourish on a course he calls home, Mondilla still needed to dish out a stellar play to hold off Zaragosa and a slew of others, including defending champion Jhonnel Ababa, Nilo Salahog and Justin Quiban, in their highly-charged chase for early control in the P2.5 million championship serving as the eighth leg of the Philippine Golf Tour.

"Actually, I didn't expect the result, I was a bit nervous at the start due to lack of sleep. But I was able to control my game, especially my driving, after three holes," said Mondilla, who gained strokes on Nos. 4 and 5 from short range then hit a solid 6-iron second shot from 230 yards on the par-5 sixth and drained a 10-foot eagle putt.

But he did admit to have had the edge in terms of local knowledge of Del Monte, saying: "I feel like I was just practicing since this is where I learned the game. There was really an advantage."