DANAO City, Cebu – Jhonnel Ababa blew a three-stroke lead but fought back from one down twice then pulled through in another pressure-packed windup with a clutch putt to foil Kim Joo Hyung and snare the inaugural ICTSI Club Filipino de Cebu Invitational crown by one on a closing 70 here yesterday.

Resigned to a playoff duel with the young Korean after a wayward drive on the par-4 18th, Ababa played out from the 10th fairway, hit a 52-wedge shot from 110 yards to within 10 feet then drilled in the uphill putt to escape with the par and the win on a 205 total in the rain-shortened P3.5 million ICTSI-sponsored event, his first on the Philippine Golf Tour in a long while.

It was actually his fourth in the season, counting his three victories in the PGT Asia, including at Forest Hills last July where he beat six others in the local tour’s most crowded final round duel in recent years.

He did face another severe test this week – from a talent-laden international field to a tricky course to a wobbly final round stint that saw him squander a three-stroke lead he gained from the rain-suspended third round. He fell behind by one to Kim after a double-bogey on the par-3 No. 12 on another missed tee-shot and to Aussie Damien Jordan after 13 holes.

But he rebounded strong on both occasions, flashing the kind of resolve that wins big-time championships, his birdie-birdie feat from No. 14 shoving him back to the lead which he kept until he hit that errant drive on the final hole.

“I was already prepared to go into a playoff. But my caddie (Edwin Sanchez) told me to just be safe and try to salvage a bogey at most,” said Ababa. “But I made a great uphill putt and that’s it.”

That putt clinched another P650,000 purse for the former national hotshot with the victory also bolstering his confidence heading to next week’s Aboitiz Invitational at the Orchard, another $100,000 event on PGT Asia where he considers himself “lucky.”

“I think I’m lucky playing on PGT Asia,” said Ababa, who won back-to-back at PGTA Eagle Ridge and Pradera Verde last January.

One down heading to the final hole Kim, who became the tour’s youngest winner at 16 at Pueblo de Oro last July, missed forcing a playoff from his end of the duel as he came up short on his approach from 166 yards. The Korean, who birdied No. 11 and grabbed the lead after Ababa double-bogeyed the next, settled for a 69 and a 206 and took home P430,000.

Jordan, who showed up the stellar cast in the first round, got back into the thick of things with a three-birdie feat at the front then birdied No. 13 to surge ahead only to reel back with a bogey on the next. He also shot a 69 but finished third at 207 worth P240,000.

James Ryan Lam carded a 69 to snatch solo fourth at 208 while Michael Bibat moved within a four-under card after 16 holes but he double-bogeyed the next and closed out with a birdie for a 69 for fifth at 209.

Zanieboy Gialon fired a 70 for solo sixth at 211 while American Lexus Keoninh rallied with a 68 to tie compatriot Pete Vilairatana (69) and Jerson Balasabas (73) at seventh at 212 while Rufino Bayron charged back with a 68 for joint 10th at 213 with Rene Mener and Richard Sinfuego, who matched par 71s, and Joenard Rates, who fumbled with a 72.

While Ababa regained his winning touch, Jobim Carlos’ run of impressive finishes, including two victories and two runner-up efforts, came to a halt with a joint 19th place windup marred by a final round four-over 75 for a 220 in the penultimate leg of the 10-stage circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. and backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc.