Red-hot Salvador equals record 62

SAN MIGUEL, Bukidnon — In what is shaping up to be a First Gentleman’s Professional Golf Circuit leg resembling the quality of a PGA Tour scoring, Elmer Salvador kept a hapless Del Monte course burning by tying the course record of 10-under-par 62 yesterday to assume control by three strokes.

Just as the 64 of Cassius Casas a day earlier seemed already a torrid pace to match, the 33-year-old Salvador raised the bar with a wondrous performance on a tree-lined course he’s supposed to know just a little of.

His scorecard was simply amazing, riddled with an assortment of 10 birdies — five on each nine — and immaculately free of any error.

The last time someone played as overpowering as Salvador at Del Monte was a decade ago when the eminent Frankie Miñoza was just starting his climb to international prominence. His version of 62 was made in a leg of the now defunct Philip Morris Classic.

After posting his best-ever score as a pro, Salvador said it’s high time he finally ended as a winner in the circuit presented by San Miguel Beer and organized by the Federation of Golf Clubs Philippines, Inc.

"Palapit na siguro tayo, awa ng Diyos makukuha rin natin yan," said the Holy Child School-supported Salvador, whose whopping 14-under-par aggregate of 130 established a new 36-hole record on the local pro tour.

Salvador, rebounding from a missed cut stint last week at nearby Pueblo de Oro, was three strokes clear of the fast-starting Casas who still needed a big rally of birdies on his last two holes to score a 69 and avoid facing a much bigger deficit.

Casas had a 133 aggregate, 11 under par, with Rey Pagunsan (67) and Robert Pactolerin (66) occupying the next two positions at 135 and 136, respectively.

There was no stopping Salvador as he rolled in a four-footer for a birdie on the first hole. He went four-of-five after a three-birdie streak from the third and closed the first nine with another easy one from four feet.

The birdie spree continued on the 11th and 12th both from putter length before Salvador put on a closing blitz of a three-footer on the 15th, another from 32 feet on the 17th and an almost tap-in effort on the par-5 18th where he played his third shot from the greenside bunker.

Salvador was all aghast looking at the encircled 3s and 4s in his card at the clubhouse. Reason is, he never drove the ball too well all day and just got the breaks from balls that bounced back into the fairways.

"Mga walong drive ang hindi ko tinamaan. Pero minsan ganun talaga ang golf, pag sinwerte ka magpasalamat ka na lang," said Salvador, who had posted three third place finishes this season and is seventh in the Order of Merit.

The 149 cut-off score was also the lowest so far in the circuit.