Briton keeps 2-shot PH Open lead

CANLUBANG, Laguna — Steve Lewton of England fired a third straight sub par round, a one-under 71, and kept his two-stroke lead with one round left in the Solaire Philippine Open at The Country Club.

Lewton, who is four under par for the tournament at 212, however, could not shake off American Johannes Veerman, who also had a 71, and most likely will chase the Englishman for top honors in the $400,000 tournament.

Three shots off the leader and not exactly out of the race is Rattanon Wannasrichan of Thailand who had an even par 72 and was at 215.

Antonio Lascuna jumped into contention with a third straight even par 72 and took over as the top Filipino challenger for the title after Miguel Tabuena tumbled following a threeover-par 75 in the third round and was six strokes behind and tied for sixth.

Lascuna was four shots down and rued a bogey on the 18th hole that could have put him in a tie for third with Rattanon.

Lewton was steady despite playing in wet conditions although he benefitted from the late arrival of the strong winds that usually batter the newly-refurbished course being groomed for a European Tour event in two years.

He was the only player to shoot all three rounds under par and is poised to earn his second Asian Tour victory, the last one came in 2014 in Taiwan.

“The wind didn’t really pick up too much until 12 (hole). So I was happy with the day,” said Lewton. “The ball was going nowhere, and hole was played longer than it normally did,” he added.

“I’ll try to shoot under par, and see how I finish. If I shoot under par again, I’ll be happy, I’ll be very pleased,” said Lewton, who finished fourth here at TCC three years ago in the Solaire Open.

Lewton highlighted his round with an eagle in pouring rain on the eighth hole when he lashed a 5-iron from 230 yards to 9 feet and drained the putt.

“I played pretty good in the rain,” said Lewton, who started competing in the Asian circuit in 2011.

Tabuena, who hounded the leader for two rounds, has his job cut out for him in today’s final round. He will be inspired by his comeback win last month when he rallied from eight strokes behind to win the Razon Cup on this same course.

But he will have to avoid disasters like the double bogey he scored on the 17th hole when his tee shot hit the water.