Wang Jeung Hun fended off Clyde Mondilla's charge and matched the reigning national champion's three-under par 69 card Thursday, keeping his four-shot lead intact for a clear shot at the WWWExpress-DHL National Golf Championships crown at Canlubang's north course.
Like in the previous rounds, Wang played solid golf under ideal condition, setting up birdie chances with superb iron game and then sinking most of them with steady putting that put him way ahead of the field.
He made five birdies, including two at the back that negated his two late bogeys on Nos. 15 and 17, his second 69 giving him a 12-under 204 total and 18 holes away from claiming the crown he lost when he was disqualified in the final round last year.
Mondilla tried to press his bid with back-to-back birdies from No. 4 but reeled back with a bogey on No. 7. He birdied two of the next three holes but failed to get any closer when he flubbed a short birdie putt on No. 17 which Wang, spearhead of a crack Riviera squad, bogeyed.
Worse, Mondilla, playing out of Del Monte, overshot the 18th green and missed another short putt for par, settling for a 69 and a 208.
Zanie Boy Gialon bounced back from a 73 with a 70 but the ICTSI-The Country Club bet, who trailed Wang by just one in the first round, stood too far at 210, six strokes adrift, and would need a low round to at least earn a shot at the crown in the 16th staging of the annual event sponsored by WWWExpress and DHL headed by chair Rod V. Feliciano.
But a three-way battle for the ladies title loomed as Lovelynn Guioguio surged ahead with a 143 after a one-under 71, wresting a one-stroke lead over first round leader Sarah Ababa and a charging three-time defending champion Chihiro Ikeda heading into the final round of the 54-hole tournament hosted by Cangolf.
Meanwhile, the Phl squad of Miguel Tabuena, Jerson Balabas and Jobim Carlos pooled a 214 and won the third RVF Southeast Asian Cup men's team crown with a 420, beating the Wang-led Korea, which had a 422 after a 219 while Singapore placed third with a 436 after a 225.
Guioguio, chasing her first big crown in years, sizzled with four birdies against a bogey at the front but dropped three strokes in the last four holes, including a double-bogey mishap on the par-3 15th, for that 71.
Ababa, who showed up the fancied bets with a 70 in the first round, faltered with two 37s and limped with a 74, dropping to second with a 144, the same output put in by Ikeda, who matched Guioguio's one-under card.
Ikeda, eyeing a fourth straight championship in the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Phils., birdied the first two holes on each nine but had three bogeys and settled for a 71.
Andie Unson matched par 72 but stood four strokes off at 147 while Kim Bo Ah had a 148 after a 72 and Kim Hui Mang and Jayvie Agojo at 150 after a 74 and 76, respectively.
Reigning national champion Irina Gabasa and Dottie Ardina hobbled with 76 and 79, respectively, and were too far off at 151.
Carlos also lay way behind in the men's side despite a 69 as he totaled a 212 for joint fourth with Carl Ocampo, who had a 72, while Tabuena fumbled with a 73 for a 214, 10 shots off Wang.(pr)
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