Que opens up four-shot lead in Lipa after flawless 66

Angelo Que:  —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

LIPA—Angelo Que strode into the scorer’s area on Wednesday afternoon whistling a tune and wearing a wide smile, things he could well afford to do after a hot second round in the P2.5-million ICTSI Summit Point Championship here.

“I am just hitting it so well that I am not worried one bit,” Que told the Inquirer after shooting a second straight six-under-par 66—this time bogey-free—for a 132 aggregate that had him opening up a four-shot lead over an equally hot Carl Corpus over the well-maintained layout.

“I have been hitting it good the past two weeks and whenever I do that and I can putt well, I can really go low,” added the 47-year-old, who had three straight birdies to start off his back nine—on No. 1—before capping his 32-34 with his sixth birdie on the par-5 ninth.

Que drained putts from as far as 30 feet, on No. 15 for birdie, and saved par the only time he was in trouble, a three-footer on No. 4.

First-round leader Justin Quiban had a different start to his homeward trip, signing for a wet double bogey 6 on the first that had him laboring to salvage a level 72 and be five back, in the company of Aidric Chan and Reymon Jaraula, who shot a 69 and 67, in that order.

Corpus played the first five holes of his back nine from the first at six-under after four birdies and an eagle, and practically leapfrogged the entire field, save for Que, to come into the third round in second spot.

Corpus is using this tournament to sharpen his game for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where he will team up with Miguel Tabuena and Justin delos Santos in hunting for the country’s first gold medal since Yuka Saso won the individual and the women’s squad the team gold in the 2018 Jakarta edition.

“There won’t be a change in anything,” Quiban told the Inquirer in a separate interview when asked how he would play the third round now that he is five down. “I was just not as good off the tees today than I was (in the first round, where he shot a 65).”

“And I just struggled with the speed of the greens today. I was way off.”

Big-hitting Keanu Jahns fired a 67 to wheel into solid contention, just six shots off the pace, with the amateur Miguel Ilas shooting a 69 to be at 139.

Meanwhile, the accompanying P1-million ladies championship took on a different complexion late in the second round. Chanelle Avaricio shot a 69 to wrest the lead from Sarah Ababa and lead Apple Fudolin by a shot.

Avaricio now has a 144 aggregate heading into Thursday’s final round, where she will try to fend off Fudolin, who shot a 71 and Ababa, who returned a 75 to be two behind, tied with South Koreans Kim Seo-yun and Tiffany Lee, who shot 71 and 73, respectively.