Jahns’ late slip sets up wild ICTSI Caliraya finish

1 of 2

CAVINTI, Laguna — A brilliant Moving Day surge put Keanu Jahns in the driver’s seat, but a recurring nightmare on the final hole left the door wide open for a star-studded chasing pack.

Poised to sign for a flawless, spectacular round, the Fil-German ace holed out with a bogey on the 18th, forcing him to settle for a six-under 66 Thursday — still enough to propel him into the solo lead at 15-under 201 and within arm’s reach of defending his ICTSI Caliraya Springs Golf Championship title.

But despite grabbing the lead, Jahns’ last-hole slip has set the stage for a dramatic, high-stakes shootout for the top PHP 450,000 purse of the PHP 2.5 million championship at Caliraya Springs Golf Club. With the “lift, clean, and place” rule making the course highly scoreable, no lead is safe — and the veterans behind him spotted an opportunity to capitalize.

Just one stroke behind at 202 are multi-titled veterans Zanieboy Gialon and Tony Lascuña.

Gialon spiked a 66 with an ace on No. 14, playing with the steady, aggressive precision needed to dismantle Caliraya’s defenses. If he maintains his momentum, he has the explosive scoring ability to overtake Jahns and reclaim the crown he won in the event’s inaugural staging in 2022.

Lascuña, the two-day leader, bucked another struggling start (37) with a gritty backside 33 to fire a 70 and remain firmly in the hunt. Known as one of the tour’s most cold-blooded finishers, Lascuña’s unparalleled experience in high-pressure shootouts makes him a massive threat.

Still, the focus will be on Jahns, who put together a scorching start for the third consecutive day until a sluggish back-nine performance left the door open for the chasing pack heading into the final round.

Despite hitting the greens, Jahns’ momentum ground to a halt on the back nine, where he struggled to read the pace of the greens and squandered three to four realistic birdie opportunities.

“I started really hot for the third straight day,” said Jahns, who battled back from three down and stormed to a three-stroke lead after an eagle-spiked, scorching front-side 30. “I was hitting a lot of greens at the back, but I just couldn’t dial in the speed. The greens felt slow and I missed several birdie putts.”

His troubles followed him to the final hole. Holding a two-shot cushion over Lascuña on the 18th tee, Jahns hit an errant drive that left him scrambling for par from a difficult lie.

“I nearly salvaged a par, but those things happen,” said Jahns of his late stumble.

Despite the shaky finish, Jahns remained confident about defending his crown. His primary focus heading into the finale is maintaining his composure and tightening up his execution.

“I’m just staying in the present. I like the way I’m playing, and I’m managing the course very well,” he added. “I’m always looking for ways to be more consistent and minimize mistakes so I can post a better score. To be honest, I still don’t feel entirely comfortable with my swing. But if I can manage the course well tomorrow, I should walk away with a good result.”

Meanwhile, Lascuña endured a roller-coaster round of his own. After watching his overnight three-shot lead evaporate — eventually falling three strokes behind Jahns in one stretch — he blamed a cold putter for his early slide.

“I struggled with my putting at the front, enabling Keanu to pull ahead,” said Lascuña. “I left a lot of birdie putts out there that just refused to drop.”

However, the seasoned pro showed his trademark resilience when it mattered most. Lascuña roared back in the closing stretch, draining three birdies over the final seven holes to bridge the gap and put himself squarely in contention to end a two-year title drought.

Trailing by three despite a solid front-side 32, Gialon rebounded from a mishap on No. 13 with an ace at the 169-yard 14th. Using a 7-iron and a Titleist ProV1 ball, Gialon recorded his fourth career hole-in-one to spectacular effect.

The ace, worth PHP 20,000 from the Philippine Golf Tour, combined with back-to-back birdies from Lascuña on Nos. 12 and 13, allowed both players to pull within a stroke of Jahns.

“I was also surprised by my hole-in-one. I just punched the ball to keep its movement controlled, and fortunately, it went right in,” said Gialon in Filipino, who is aiming to snap a two-year title drought. He won the inaugural staging of this tournament in 2022 and broke a subsequent two-year dry spell with a victory in Iloilo in 2024 before falling into another slump.

Just a stroke behind Jahns and tied with Lascuña — both established and tested stars in grind-out battles — Gialon kept faith in his ability to pull it off.

“There’s no pressure. I’ll just play my game and stick to the same routine,” said Gialon, who also hopes to flash his superb short game.

“My short game really clicked — from 120 yards out and closer, I was able to stick it near the pin,” he added, referring to his birdies on Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7, and 18, which put him on track to sustain his pattern of winning a victory every two years.

Meanwhile, sitting just three shots back at 204 are heavyweight champions Angelo Que and Guido van der Valk, who matched 68s, with the former gunning down five birdies against a bogey and the latter posting a bogey-free 34-34 card.

Que, the reigning Order of Merit winner, brings unmatched firepower and international experience — if his wedge game and putter catch fire early, he can easily erase a three-stroke deficit.

Van der Valk, a master of course management, thrives when conditions get tight. His methodical approach means he will likely capitalize on any mistakes made by the final flight.

Adding even more chaos to one of the most crowded leaderboards in Philippine Golf Tour memory is Fidel Concepcion, who fired a scorching, tournament-best 63 to tie rookie Aidric Chan (67) and Sean Ramos (69) for sixth place at 206.

With five proven champions separated by just three strokes and three others within striking distance, the final 18 holes promise to be an absolute thriller.