RYAN Monsalve sputtered in a frontside finish, missing the opportunity to replicate his first-round performance and turned the chase for the ICTSI Villamor Philippine Masters crown into a wild, furious battle.
The rookie pro appeared poise to dominate when he surged to a five-stroke lead over Angelo Que with a five-birdie, one-bogey card after 11 holes at the Villamor Golf Club yesterday. However, a bogey on the fourth hole and a double bogey on the challenging No. 5 allowed his rivals to close the gap. Another mishap on the eighth hole left Monsalve clinging to a shaky lead.
Despite these setbacks, Monsalve managed to grab the lead at four-under 140. But his inability to build a commanding cushion left him vulnerable to an anticipated charge from Que and a mix of contenders heading into the pivotal round of the P2 million championship, the fourth leg of this year’s Philippine Golf Tour.
This set the stage for a high-stakes showdown of strategy, ball control and putting on a challenging, risk-and-reward course.
“I didn’t feel like I played too badly, I just ended up with a bogey and a double bogey,” said Monsalve, reflecting on his costly mistakes on the closing holes.
On the par-3 No. 4, he dumped his tee shot into the greenside bunker and couldn’t get up-and-down. Despite hitting the fairway on the next, his ball landed on a bare lie, sending his approach shot into the bunker, where he needed two shots to escape, resulting in a 6.
Up by five strokes at one point, Monsalve, who marked his professional debut with a fifth-place finish at Apo, acknowledged he wasn’t aware of his lead but he knew he was playing well enough to be somewhere up there.
“I didn’t finish strong, but I believe I still played well mentally,” added Monsalve.
