Go gets going with hot putter

SILANG, Cavite, Philippines — Lois Kaye Go flashed a near-impeccable touch to knock down putts from long range, coming away with a superb 68 that put her five shots clear off Samantha Martirez and two others in a dominant start to a title-retention drive in the National Stroke Play Championship at Riviera’s Langer course here yesterday.

Coming off a gold medal feat in team play in last month’s SEA Games at Luisita, Go sizzled on a frontside finish, birdying Nos. 6 and 7 for a 33-35 card as she built an early cushion in the women’s side. She ruled the event last year by humbling the likes of LPGA Tour-bound and SEAG gold medalist Bianca Pagdanganan and world No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand.

“I feel really contented with my game and I thought I played pretty solid,” said Go, also a member of the Asian Games gold medal squad with Yuka Saso and Pagdanganan. “I made a couple of mistakes but recovered well with birdies. The key was putting. I made putts from 15 to 20 feet and was able to save par when I needed to.”

Martirez actually matched the Cebuana ace’s 35 start but dropped three strokes in the first three holes at the front, including a double-bogey on No. 2, finishing with a 38 for a 73 in a tie with Abby Arevalo, teammate of Pagdanganan and Go in the SEAG squad, who also stumbled with a closing 38, and young Rianne Malixi, who rallied with a 35.

In men’s play, Korean Wook Gwon Min cashed in on an early start to likewise fire a three-under 68 and gain a two-stroke lead over Ryan Monsalve. Weiwei Gao stood in third spot but five shots behind at 73 in the 72-hole tournament kicking off the 2020 PLDT Group Amateur National Golf Tour.

Wook left as soon as he holed out with a birdie on the ninth and signed his scorecard that featured a couple of 34s, apparently pleased with his performance that could not be said of the majority of the 57 other bidders, who struggled when the wind whipped up at noon.