Van der Valk hangs on, prevails by a stroke

Guido Van der Valk. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Dutchman Guido van der Valk played the 72nd hole well enough on a pressure-laden Friday to fend off two hard-charging pursuers and pocket the ICTSI Forest Hills Classic title for his first win of the Philippine Golf Tour season.

The 45-year-old actually prevented an implosion with a clutch par in regulation on the 18th that sealed a one-under-par 70 for a one-shot win over Keanu Jahns and Angelo Que, who actually held the clubhouse lead after checking in with a 66 and 64, respectively.

“No. 18 isn’t the easiest hole—there’s a lot of trouble out there,” Van der Valk said after tallying 272. “I hit a good drive and followed it up with a really nice second shot. That helped me settle down a bit and close it out.”

What was supposed to be a three-man race for the crown in the final round among Van der Valk and Reymon Jaraula—who started the day sharing a three-shot lead over young Aidric Chan—turned into a wide-open race as Van der Valk had all three of his bogeys in the back nine.

Que was flawless in carving out a 30-34 effort, while Jahns had five of his seven birdies coming home, with the last of his two bogeys that came on the par-3 15th preventing him for forging a playoff with Van der Valk.

“For some reason, I got a little defensive at the back nine,” Van der Valk said. “That’s when I started getting into trouble. I struggled to shake it off and ended up making some bogeys, which definitely made things harder for me toward the finish.

“Still, I hung in there,” he said.