ZANIEBOY Gialon heads back to Cavinti, Laguna next week with a winning mindset, expending the weeks leading to the ICTSI Caliraya Springs Championship refining his short game that hampered his campaign in Bacolod and Iloilo last month.
“I’ve been practicing the last few weeks, focusing more on my short game after struggling in that part (of my game) in Bacolod and Iloilo,” Gialon said of his preparations for the P2.5 million event on April 18-21.
While he contended for the championship at Marapara, eventually finishing fifth, the 32-year-old Davao bet floundered in the final round at Sta. Barbara, limping home with a 76 and ending up 13th.
At Caliraya Springs, Gialon will be doubly motivated, having emerged winner at the Arnold Palmer-designed layout, which hosted its first PGT event last year. He banked on his superb putting to beat Clyde Mondilla by four.
“Putting really worked for me at Caliraya Springs last year,” said Gialon, who anchored his first-round 67 on a 24-putt performance on his way to a wire-to-wire victory that snapped a five-year title spell in the country’s premier circuit put up by ICTSI.
With the rest of the stellar field, including Bacolod leg winner Ira Alido and Iloilo champion Rupert Zaragosa, all geared up for the 72-hole championship, a spirited battle looms at the challenging par-72, 6,788-yard lush green undulating layout with an elevation of 1,200 feet above sea level.
“Everybody has a chance kaya depende na lang kung sino ang mas kundisyon sa amin,” said Gialon. “But I will try my very best to win again.”
