Van der Valk pads lead to 3 after 67

TAGAYTAY, Philippines  â€“ Dutch Guido Van der Valk kept the momentum of his fiery finish in the first round with a five-under 67 yesterday, stretching his lead to three, this time over Japanese Toru Nakajima halfway through the PGT (Philippine Golf Tour) Qualifying School at Splendido Taal Golf Club here.

Van der Valk, who birdied two of the last three holes Tuesday to card a lead-grabbing 72, rattled off three birdies at the back from where he started then birdied the first three holes at the front to go six-under.

But he settled for pars the next five holes then holed out with his lone bogey mishap for that 67 and a 139.

Nakajima actually bettered Van der Valk’s hot start two flights behind with a 32 and the Japanese bet, who had a 75 in the first round, also birdied the first two holes at the front but stumbled with a bogey on the next to match the leader’s 67 for a 142.

Belem Arancon emerged as the best local player after a 74 but he stood nine strokes behind at 148 in a tie with Japan’s Tomokazu Yoshinaga while Arnel Enema and Dino Villanueva had 149s after a 71 and 75, respectively, and Raul Miñoza turned in a 76 for a 150.

Amateur Chris Mamaril matched par 72 to force a three-way tie with Paul Echavez, who made a 73, and Jude Eustaquio, who had  a 74, at 151, while Lino Retuerto and Rene Menor were tied at 152 after a pair of 75s.

Last year’s top qualifier Johvanie Abaño made a 76 for a 153 while Wooram Suh, Phil Cho and Jet Mathay had similar 154s after a 73, 76 and 80, respectively.

Artemio Murakami hardly improved with a 79 after an 80 but safely made it to the final two rounds at 159 for joint 41st.

Only the top 60 players plus ties after 36 advanced to the final two rounds of the 72-hole elims with the top 30 and 10 foreign bets after four rounds gaining cards for the 2013 ICTSI-PGT circuit which starts next week

The qualifiers will join the top 40 players from last year’s Order of Merit ranking in this year’s circuit beginning with the ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic on March 20 at Sherwood Hills.

The second leg will be held at Wack Wack on April 11-14 for the Solaire Open, which coincides with the opening of the Solaire Resort and Casino at Entertainment City in Manila. The rich event will also serve as a leg on the Asian Tour.