Van der Valk claims Iloilo lead

BACOLOD — Guido Van der Valk sizzled early with long birdies then hit another at the finish to card a four-under 66 and grab a two-stroke lead as Elmer Salvador tumbled on a triple-bogey finish halfway through the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

Salvador, sustaining his form following a victory in the pro-am Tuesday, rattled off four straight birdies from No. 5 that capped a scorching six-birdie binge from No. 2 on his homeward trip, shoving the veteran Davaoeño shotmaker past Van der Valk with an eight-under overall card.

But he hit an errant approach shot on the par-4 No. 9, the ball hitting a tree and into a hazard. He dumped his wedge shot into the greenside bunker then two-putted for 7, enabling the Manila-based Dutchman to wrest a two-stroke lead at seven-under 133 and on course for a follow up to his maiden triumph at Eagle Ridge last March.

“If you’re not on the right spots, oh my God,” said Van der Valk, who birdied three of the first four holes from long range, including a chip-in from 10 yards on No. 4, to get going. He hit three more birdies to negate the same number of bogeys in the next 11 holes, including a monster 45-footer on No. 6 and a 20-footer on No. 14 before birdying the par-3 16th from 18 feet to improve from 67 to 66.

“The course should not be taken lightly. Misfired drives and errors on approach shots can hit you at any time and punish you,” said Van der Valk. “Those early birdies boosted my confidence the whole day and I’m hoping to have the same result in the third round.”

It was a sorry foldup for Salvador who meticulously worked his way back from an up-and-down backside 35 with that string of birdies that came like rain in another scorching day at the tight but tricky layout of the country’s oldest course.

“I need to be more consistent with my shots,” said Salvador, whose 68 dropped him to joint second at 135 with Jhonnel Ababa, who hit two birdies in the last six holes at the front to shoot a 68, and erstwhile leader Tim Stewart of Australia, who shot four birdies but stumbled with three bogeys – on all but one par-3s – for a 69.

“I missed the greens twice and three-putted the other,” said Stewart of his misfortunes on Nos. 5, 13 and 16. He parred the other par-3 on No. 10.