Ramos soars with early eagle as three share Philippine ADT Open lead
MANILA, Philippines — Sean Ramos continued his rich vein of form on Wednesday, carding an eagle-spiked, four-under 68 to spearhead the local charge at the start of the $100,000 Philippine ADT Open at the Luisita Golf and Country Club.
Ramos’s brilliant opening salvo left him just two strokes adrift of a three-way tie for the clubhouse lead, held by Japan’s Naoki Sekito, Malaysia’s Marcus Lim and South Korea’s Jaeil Kim, who all took full advantage of near-ideal morning conditions to match 66s.
Coming off a string of impressive finishes across the Philippine Golf Tour, the Asian Tour and the Asian Development Tour, including a runner-up finish at the ADT Players Championship in Malaysia last month, Ramos showed no signs of slowing down on the challenging Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed layout.
Starting his day with steady composure, Ramos turned in a even-par 36 on his front nine, bouncing back from a lone bogey on the par-4 eighth. But it was his back-nine performance where the young Filipino truly turned on the heat.
The highlight of his round came on the par-5 No. 12, where Ramos aggressively attacked the green and holed out for a spectacular eagle. Buoyed by the momentum, he gunned down three more birdies to complete a blistering 32 on the back half, securely anchoring his spot in a provisional tie for sixth place as the afternoon wave battled on.
While Ramos emerged as the clubhouse's top local performer, a formidable international contingent set the early pace. Sekito, Lim and Kim held a slim one-shot cushion over Hong Kong's Hoho Yue and American Brent Ito, who both carded 67s.
Meanwhile, the rest of the star-studded field looked to make inroads as the afternoon progressed.
Top Filipino contender Angelo Que sparked his bid for a breakthrough victory at the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed layout by birdieing three of his first nine holes on the back nine. The veteran campaigner, who boasts an impressive collection of titles, including three victories on the Asian Tour, positioned himself strongly in pursuit of another milestone triumph.
Keanu Jahns, Jeffren Lumbo, Reymon Jaraula and Boni Salahog turned in two-under-par cards through nine holes to stay within striking distance of the leaders.
Meanwhile, Russel Bautista shot a two-under-par 70 to move into a share of 16th place alongside Clyde Mondilla. Zanieboy Gialon, on the other hand, squandered an early two-under-par start with bogeys on two of his final four holes, settling for an even-par 72 and a tie for 46th with Ivan Monsalve.
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