Catch him if you can: Hernandez now 12 shots ahead

Jet Hernandez —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

It was a different day, same output for Jet Hernandez, who pieced together a second straight seven-under-par 65 to pull away with a 12-shot lead and leave the talented men’s field scampering for second place going into the final 36 holes of the NGAP’s National Strokeplay Championship.

And like the way he talked after the first of those two brilliant rounds, the 21-year-old still refuses to fall into any sort of relaxed state.

“Crazier things have happened in golf,” the psychology major at University of Denver told the Inquirer as he takes a 130 aggregate into the third round on Friday, leading Rolando Bregente comfortably at the wide-open Pinatubo course of Pradera Verde.

“Nothing is going to change,” he said when asked how he will come out for the third round. “I will still have the same goals, the same commitment behind every shot. I will stay in the present and stay as calm as I can.”

Crediting his brilliant second round to “great iron and wedge plays,” Hernandez drained 10 birdies in the second round that came with his first three bogeys of the week, which allowed the field to come a bit closer somehow with Bregente firing a 67 for 142 and another national pool member in Chris Remata to be another shot back like Jed Dy after a 72 and 71, respectively.

“It was a different day of scoring,” he said when asked to compare his bogeyless 65 on Wednesday when his putter did most of the magic.

Tight battle for second

Paolo Barro and Emilio Hernandez, Jet’s brother, are both a stroke off third spot after firing a 74 and 75, in that order, with Jacob Rolida catching 13-year-old Vito Sarines at 150 after a 76.

Sarines, who started the round seven shots off Hernandez in second spot, stumbled with a double bogey and an 18th hole double bogey in submitting a 78.

“You can not take things easy on this course,” the defending champion Hernandez went on, even as young Lisa Sarines also started breaking away in the ladies division, with a level 72 for 142 that opened up a seven-shot lead over Tashanah Balangauan.

The 14-year-old Sarines blew a one-under card after her first nine holes, but it was still enough to gain a lot of ground on the field as Balangauan skied to a 76 littered by seven bogeys.

Precious Zaragosa also submitted a 76 to be another shot behind, now four shots up on Johanna Uyking, who shot a 77. Crista Miñoza ballooned to an uncharacteristic 80 to be 10 off the leader.