Dutch Van der Valk hangs tough despite wobbly finish in 3rd round

• Published date: 09 February 2023
• Publication title: Business Mirror

GUIDO VAN DER VALK threatened to turn what had been a furious battle into a blowout round but floundered at the finish to barely hold on to a two-stroke lead over Zanieboy Gialon with a 74 in brutal conditions in The Country Club (TCC) Invitational Thursday in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

The Dutchman looked headed to surviving the toughest of tests at the TCC in three days by remaining steady and in control of his game and of the field in howling winds and keeping a five-shot lead after 15 holes over his nearest pursuer.

But he made a couple of what he termed as 'silly mistakes' that led to two bogeys in the last three holes and enabled Gialon and a charging Lloyd Go to make a run for the coveted championship staked on every Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) season.

'I'm a little bit disappointed with the end-result because I played really good for about 15 holes and then just had a couple of bad swings in the end,' rued Van der Valk, who also bogeyed the tough No. 13 for the third straight day. 'A bad drive on No. 16 cost me a bogey and had a horrible shot into the water on No. 18.'

Still, he remained on top at five-over 221, two strokes clear of Gialon, who in contrast, closed out with a flourish, birdying two of the last five holes to match Van der Valk's two-over card for a 223 and stay from where he stood at after 36 holes of the P6 million championship.

Despite Van der Valk's faltering windup, Gialon remained impressed with the former's game and poise, particularly after he fell by as many as seven with a bogey on No. 11.

'Parang ang dali ng golf sa kanya (golf seems to come easily to him),' said Gialon, who birdied the first hole to pull within one off Van der Valk, then, like Clyde Mondilla and majority of the contenders, reeled back with flawed shots and flubbed putts until he regained his touch and rhythm in the last five holes.

That moved Van der Valk, a two-leg winner of last year's seven-leg PGT, 18 holes away from matching Angelo Que's back-to-back title feat after the latter edged Mondilla by one in 2020. Que, who shares three titles each with Juvic Pagunsan, broke through in 2007 then swept the 2010 and 2011 editions of the event held in honor of International Container Terminal Services Inc. founder Don Pocholo Razon.

Gialon muffed birdie chances from close range on Nos. 2 and 7 and made a wet triple-bogey on No. 5 and bogeyed Nos. 9 and 11 before birdies on the 14th and 17th saved what could've been a total disaster for the runaway winner of last year's...