Zaragosa pads lead to 2, but Bisera lurks
ILOILO—Rupert Zaragosa recovered his touch, kept his poise then produced clutch shots that checked an impending frontside skid, leading to a 68 and a two-stroke lead over an equally gutsy Elee Bisera midway through the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge presented by MORE Power here on Thursday.
A late birdie and a brave run of pars spiked Zaragosa’s closing 36, more than preserving his superb backside 32 marred by a bogey on No. 10 but marked by a three-birdie binge from No. 12 as the diminutive but talented former national champion moved 36 holes away from scoring a career breakthrough on the Philippine Golf Tour.
“I’m not going to pressure myself. I will just follow the game plan, my routine and hopefully, I’ll be able to produce good results (in the last two days),” said Zaragosa, who took charge by one over Ferdie Aunzo with a first round 65 and padded his lead to two on a 36hole aggregate of seven-under 133 at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club.
Breathing down his neck are two unlikely contenders who both missed the cut at Marapara last week but are now in hot pursuit of a maiden victory with back-to-back under-par rounds in the P2.25 million event put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Bisera, a rookie pro, followed up his opening 67 with a 68 to grab second place at 135 while Paul Echavez, looking for a first win in 14 years, holed out with back-to-back birdies to fire a 67 and tied fancied Guido van der Valk, who shot a 65, at third at 136.
Zanieboy Gialon pulled within one off Zaragosa with a scorching four-birdie run in the first seven holes at the front but drove outof-bounds on the eighth and made a double-bogey then missed an eight-footer for par on the last to tumble to fifth at 137 after a 67.
After making the backside turn at 32, Zaragosa stepped up his assault on the challenging par-70 layout with a birdie on No. 1.
But he lost his putting touch and bogeyed the next two on three putt miscues and scrambled with a birdie-bogey-birdie card in the next three before holding sway with three straight pars.
“After making those three-putt bogeys, I told myself that I needed to focus on the allowance and speed (of the greens). So I was able to birdie two of the next three,” said Zaragosa, who also led in the middle rounds in the PGT bubble tournament at Riviera-Couples in 2021 but lost to Lascuna by four.
This time, he believes he would need a sixunder card in last two days to join the elite circle of Tour winners.
But Bisera also continued to show flashes of brilliance and resiliency as he rebounded with birdies on Nos. 6 and 14 after blowing a twobirdie feat in the first three holes with back-toback bogeys from No. 4.