Go sees Pinewoods for first time and then conquers it

LJ Go: Two eagles and bogey-less. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BAGUIO—LJ Go got married last month and flew in from Thailand before motoring to this progressive tourist hub on Monday night. He didn’t even have the benefit to sample a course the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) is playing for the first time and which every other big gun in the field said was “tricky.”

It wasn’t a problem for the 31-year-old ace, who has been winless in two years but has two tournaments to play in as many weeks in the country for him to keep his local tour card.

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“I was just cautious, I guess,” Go told the Inquirer here on Tuesday, minutes after shooting a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 adorned with two eagles for a three-shot lead over Jeff Lumbo at the start of the P2.5 million ICTSI Pinewoods Challenge on Tuesday.

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“It was a good first day, considering that I played this course for the first time,” the 2024 champion at Palos Verdes, who campaigns extensively abroad, added. “My putting was just really good today.

“I made every putt I looked at,” Go continued, as his day was highlighted by a 15-foot make for an eagle on No. 10 before closing eagle-birdie. “I just want to make the most out of this [leg] before I head to Pradera [Verde, next week].”

The score just can’t pass as a new course record since the field was made to play preferred lies rules after heavy rains had battered this city the past few nights.

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Go has just those two legs to make enough money and keep his exemption for next season, even as former Philippine Open champions Clyde Mondilla and Angelo Que went separate ways in the opening round, with Que, the hot favorite, returning a 77.

First albatross

“It’s one of those courses that is of the risk-reward type,” Mondilla said in Filipino after highlighting a 69 with the first double eagle of his career, struck with a 7-iron from 177 yards for his approach on the par-5 10th for a two.

“I had every intention of playing that hole conservatively,” said Mondilla, who used a 4-iron off the tee instead of hitting driver on the 433-yard hole and then landing a drive inside 100 yards, considering his length. “Sometimes you get lucky like I did, but there are times the course bites back.”

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Keanu Jahns, who won three titles like Que last season, ballooned to an 80 after four double bogeys and two bogeys against just two birdies. He would need a low second round to make weekend play.

The 47-year-old Que was at nine-over heading into his last six holes after signing for three double bogeys. But he got hot with birdies on the 14th and 15th and before an eagle on the 17th.

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