Alido, 8 others crowd Aboitiz leaderboard

MANILA, Philippines — Ira Alido blew a two-under card with a double-bogey finish for a 72 but found himself in a crowded leaderboard just the same while American Lexus Keoninh and Aussie Tim Stewart fared worse in a wild finish that paved the way for a nine-player pileup at the start of the rich Aboitiz Invitational 2019 yesterday.

Wack Wack’s East lived up to its hype as a championship course like no other, yielding just nine even par cards as the best for the day, hinting of a battle of wits or survival in the next three days in pursuit of the coveted crown in the $100,000 event serving as the fourth leg of the third Philippine Golf Tour Asia.

Alido dumped his approach shot on the long par-4 No. 9, his closing hole, on the greenside bunker and struggled to get out off a bad lie, ending up with a six that spoiled what could’ve been a strong start for a player who had missed the cut in two of the first three of legs of the region’s emerging circuit put up by ICTSI.

“Overall, I’m satisfied with my game as I was able to play the way I planned it – hit the fairways and greens since the East is not a birdie course,” said Alido, who failed to advance at Luisita and Southwoods. “Just got a little bit unlucky on the ninth where I had a bad lie and I had to hit with my other foot outside of the bunker.”

Stewart and Keoninh, who had looked forward to grabbing the first-day honors in the event organized by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. with a pair of under-par cards heading to the last three holes on opposite nines, found the going tougher in the end as they stumbled, fumbled and tumbled.

Stewart, who spiked his fine start with three straight birdies from No. 1 coming home, bogeyed the last three and wound up with a 73 while Keoninh also bogeyed the last three at the back and limped with a 74.

Those late mishaps enabled Alido to emerge on top, along with eight others, including seven who bucked hot, windy conditions in morning play to get into the early mix in the 72-hole championship serving as the fourth leg of this year’s circuit organized by Piilpinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

“Yeah, it was tough but just got to grind it out the whole week,” said Keoninh, who served notice of his title drive by topping the pro-am tournament Tuesday.