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MANILA, Philippines — Against swirling winds and an unforgiving layout, Ivan Monsalve fired a gutsy one-under-par 71 to seize the early lead in the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Championship at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club here yesterday.
Monsalve, who missed the cut at Pradera, outshone the field of seasoned campaigners and rising stars, banking on his solid short game to offset missed greens in regulation.
He birdied No. 14, bogeyed the next, and reeled off a string of pars before picking up strokes on Nos. 5 and 8.
Though he dropped a shot on the ninth, his 35-36 proved enough to emerge as the day’s best score.
Sean Ramos birdied No. 15 to salvage a 74, matching Hyun Ho Rho’s output for joint second, while seasoned pro Tony Lascuña squandered an even-par card after 15 holes, stumbling with a double bogey-bogey finish for a 75 and a share of fourth with Lloyd Go, Taewon Ha, Ryan Monsalve, Jeffren Lumbo and recent PGT Q-School topnotcher and Pradera leg third placer Jaehyun Jung.
In a surprising turn of events, Gretchen Villacencio seized a three-stroke lead with a 75 in the women’s side.
Villacencio, still in search of a breakthrough win in a seven-year pro career, showed remarkable composure to emerge atop the leaderboard. Her three-over-par round, marked by three birdies against six bogeys, kept her steady as most of the field crumbled under the unrelenting conditions.
Villacencio faced headwinds on her inward nine, dropping four shots in the first seven holes. However, she came through with a clutch birdie from 21 feet on the 18th to salvage a 36-39 round – enough to give her a three-stroke cushion in the P750,000 championship put up by ICTSI.
