ILOILO City – Sarah Ababa’s six-month journey back to the winner’s circle culminated with a victory in the women’s division of the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge on Thursday at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club here.
The Davao City-native Ababa struggled with her performance in the final role to end the competition with seven-over-par 217, escaping a late surge from challenger Chihiro Ikeda.
“I didn’t expect to win because I struggled with my putting today compared to the first two rounds,” said Ababa said. “But I think the key to my success is perseverance and staying patient.”
“Suwerte lang siguro kasi ‘yung father ko ang nag-caddie sa akin sa dalawang panalo ko. Pero alam ko ‘yung palo ko, mag i-improve pa siya, lalo na sa mga putting,” she added.
With the victory, Ababa secured the P130,000 winner’s purse, Ikeda settled for second and P85,000, while Mafy Singson and Mikha Fortuna split the combined P138,000 prizes.
Meanwhile, Zanieboy Gialon capitalized on two-day leader Fidel Concepcion’s early struggles to surge ahead in the third round of the men’s ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge competition.
Gialon relied on a composed and dominant performance and an early burst of birdies to finish the day with a solid four-under card and a 11-under 199 total, positioning himself for a long-awaited title victory at the par-70
Jhonnel Ababa, however, shook off a wobbly frontside performance of one-over 37, rattling off four birdies in the last nine holes to fire a 67 and assume the challenger’s role at 201.
Meanwhile, erstwhile two-day leader Concepcion struggled with his game, posting a three-over through 16 holes. He managed to salvage his round with a birdie on the 17th, finishing with a 72 and tying with Reymon Jaraula at 203.
Jaraula also kept his title hopes alive with a second consecutive 68, closing strong with back-to-back birdies. Also in contention are Ira Alido and Dino Villanueva, who both fired three-under rounds to tie Tony Lascuña, who matched par 70, at 205./PN
