ILOILO City – Fidel Concepcion carded a gritty 67 amidst windy conditions, fending off seasoned contenders to maintain his two-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club on Wednesday here.
The 28-year-old Concepcion is vying for his first victory in the Philippine Golf Tour after four years of near misses, facing a tough field of past winners eager to challenge his lead.
“I have a pretty solid game plan, and I’ll stick to it,” said Concepcion, who posted a nine-under 131 total, two strokes ahead of Zanieboy Gialon, who delivered a sizzling six-under 30 on the front nine for a 64 and a 133 aggregate.
Jhonnel Ababa also made his presence felt as his front-nine 31, capped by a 10-foot eagle on the par-4 sixth, earned him a tournament-best 63, placing him just three strokes behind Concepcion at 134.
Reymon Jaraula, Tony Lascuña, and Guido van der Valk shared fourth place at 135, with Jaraula losing ground after a bogey on the eighth hole for a 68, the same output put in by Lascuña, while van der Valk salvaged a 70 to stay in the hunt.
Meanwhile, Sarah Ababa shot a stellar two-under 68 to take the lead over former co-leader Chihiro Ikeda after 36 holes in the women’s competition of the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge.
Ababa’s strong performance brings her within reach of claiming her second victory of the season on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour.
Despite starting one stroke behind, Ababa faced an early setback with a double bogey on the second hole, but her experience and determination shone through as she recovered with a birdie on the par-3 fifth hole.
While many of her competitors faltered on the challenging back nine of the par-70 course, Ababa stayed composed and hit consecutive birdies from No. 12, followed by another on the last hole to cap off a solid back nine of 31.
“My putting clicked, and I played more relaxed with my father on the bag,” said Ababa. “There’s pressure when I miss shots or putts because he gets upset, but I turned that into a positive by improving on my mistakes.”/PN
