GEN. TRIAS, Cavite – Guido Van der Valk battled back from five down and moved two-up as Jay Bayron faded in windy condition at the finish after a scorching start, putting the Dutchman in the threshold of a breakthrough victory in the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Challenge at the Faldo course here yesterday.

Van der Valk hit three birdies against a bogey in the last five holes to card a 71 then watched Bayron fumble with three straight bogeys from No. 15 for a 76 in a flight behind, finding himself 18 holes away from finally ending a long quest for the elusive Philippine Golf Tour crown.

“My putting just clicked since it’s hard to get par and very easy to get a bogey here,” said the 38-year-old Manila-based native of Lelystad, the Netherlands, whose best crack at the PGT title was foiled by Tony Lascuña in a three-man playoff with Korean-American Micah Shin in Bacolod in 2016.

He actually came into the P2.5 million event brimming with confidence, having churned out a pair of third place finishes in The Country Club Invitational and the Solaire Philippine Open the last three weeks.

Now two ahead of Bayron with an even 216 aggregate, Van der Valk hopes to put it all together on a tough course that continues to bedevil the games of the rest of the surviving 40-man field in the kickoff leg of this year’s Philippine Golf Tour sponsored by ICTSI.

“The course is really difficult, it’s tight and windy,” said Van der Valk as he zeroed in on the top P450,000 purse in the 72-hole championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Bayron came in ruffled by the gusts that also blew the bids of the other contenders, closing out with a 40 and a 76 and dropping to second at 218 while Michael Bibat carded a 73 to tie American Nicolas Paez, who hobbled with a 74, at 220, four strokes adrift.

Lascuña, just one behind Bayron at the start of the day, broke down first at Faldo’s exacting backside, also finishing with a 40 marred by a triple-bogey on No. 16 for a 77. He tumbled down down to joint fifth with Omar Dungca, who matched par-72, and comebacking Richard Sinfuego, who fired a 71, at 221, now five shots behind.

Jhonnel Ababa turned in a third straight 74 and stood six shots off at 222 in a tie with Edward Reyes, who fumbled with a 75, while Mhark Fernando and Joenard Rates shot identical 73s to tie Aussie Tim Stewart, who made a 74, at 223.

Bayron threatened to pull away with three birdies in the first five holes as Van der Valk fell behind by five despite his own birdie on No. 2 against a bogey on the seventh. Bayron stayed ahead despite a bogey-double-bogey finish at the front although it somehow hinted at the coming of a tougher stint at the back.

He actually kept a three-shot lead over Van der Valk with five holes left but the latter birdied Nos. 14 and 15 and surged ahead as the former stumbled with three straight bogeys from No. 15.

Other backers of the event are Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc.