Eagle-spiked 65 sends Mondilla back on top

BUKIDNON, Philippines —Clyde Mondilla found the putting touch he flaunted in the first round but lost in the next and put himself back at the helm with an eagle-spiked 65 in overcast skies, one shot ahead of Reymon Jaraula in the third round of the ICTSI Del Monte Championship here yesterday.

“I didn’t expect to be on top again, just tried to put myself into good position but got my confidence back (in putting) in the last nine holes,” said the runaway winner at Forest Hills last June who drove past halfway point leader Justin Quiban and erstwhile joint second-running Reymon Jaraula and Jhonnel Ababa to zero in on the top P437,000 purse in the P2.5 million championship put up by ICTSI.

But Jaraula stayed where he stood at after 36 holes, pressing his own title drive following a big win at Valley, also last June, with a bogey-free 67, capped by birdies in the last two holes as he assembled a 202 to seal a final round duel of homegrown bets.

“Maganda ang putting pero kulang lang sa swerte,” said Jaraula, who also rued a couple of missed birdie opportunities from short range in near-ideal scoring conditions. “Kumpyansa naman ako kasi nag bogey-free.”