Jaraula fires two eagles, surges ahead in ICTSI Valley

ANTIPOLO, Philippines — Reymon Jaraula blew past erstwhile joint leaders Ira Alido and Angelo Que with a rare two-eagle feat for a brilliant 66 but had to endure a two-hour delay before formally claiming a two-stroke lead midway through the ICTSI Valley Golf Challenge here yesterday.

Lightning past noon forced the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. to suspend play, minutes after Jaraula had turned in a near-flawless 32-34 card marked by eagles on Nos. 7 and 17, and moments after Alido and Que parted ways on the second day.

Alido struck back after bogeys on Nos. 2 and 4 with birdies in the next two holes to get to 3-under for the day and seven-under overall while Que, who matched Alido’s first-round 68 for a one-stroke lead over Jaraula and three others, fell with with bogeys on Nos. 4 and 6 before play was stopped.

Jaraula assembled a nine-under 135 laced with three birdies that buried a lone mishap on No. 18.

“I struggled with my putting early on and missed some putts. Although I recovered on some holes, I also failed to sink a couple of putts from short range,” said Jaraula in Filipino.

Alido finished with a 69 for a 137 while the next two pursuers lay five strokes off the new leader heading to the last 36 holes of the P2 million championship.

“It was a long wait and I lost my momentum from that point but it was still a good round,” said Alido.

Meanwhile, amateur Mafy Singson made a huge 10-stroke turnaround with a superb three-under 69, driving past Chihiro Ikeda and Korean amateur Min Yeong Kim and closer to a second pro crown in the women’s side of the ICTSI Valley Golf Challenge.

After a seven-over 79 in the first round, Singson exploded early in a backside 33 start then picked herself up from a double-bogey on No. 3 with a birdie on the next then gained another stroke on the par-5 seventh.

In a flash, she found herself towing the field with a four-over 148.