BUKIDNON – Unshaken by a wobbly frontside stint, Velinda Castil battled back in a fashion rarely seen in a junior golfer, birdying two of the last four holes to salvage a second straight 73 and back to where she was at the start – on top of the ICTSI Del Monte Championship heap.

Castil’s birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 made up for her double-bogey on the first hole and a bogey on the ninth and her late rebound stood out in a rain-hit day when Harmie Constantino and Daniella Uy limped with mishaps on Del Monte Golf Club’s tough finishing holes and fell off the leaderboard.

With a 146 aggregate and a one-shot lead over new pursuer Pamela Mariano, the 15-year-old Castil candidly admitted the pressure to deliver in his first title crack in a pro tournament is mounting while doubts begin to creep into her young mind.

“Medyo kinakabahan ako kasi 1-up lang ang lamang ko,” said Castil, who is coming off a runner-up finish in the 15-18 age group category of the Junior PGT VisMin Classic at Pueble de Oro last Sunday that earned her a slot in next month’s national finals.

“Sana lang, bukas (Thursday), ma-maintain ko lang ang score ko,” added the Manolo Fortich native who thus moved 18 holes away from becoming the second youngest junior golfer to win on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour after Rianne Malixi, then 14, who routed the pros with a 15-stroke triumph at Midlands in her first LPGT event in 2021.

But out to spoil her record run is a couple of title hungry pro contenders, including Mariano, who also rallied with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 to turn in the day’s best 71 and take the challenger’s role at 147.

“I just enjoyed the game and was able to correct some of my mistakes in the first round,” said Mariano, referring to her big recovery from a first round 76.

Unlike in her first stab at LPGT at Mount Malarayat last year where she wound up tied for fourth after a final round 77, the 25-year-old shotmaker liked her chances this time, saying: “I think familiar ako sa greens, mas kabisado ko ang speed at play ng greens dito.”

Yvon Bisera, who finished runner-up to Uy in the last LPGT leg at Forest Hills, carded a second straight 74 on a four-bogey, two-birdie round and lay just two strokes off Castil with a 148 in a tie with a charging amateur Mafy Singson, the runaway winner at Valley, who also fought back from a three-over card with birdies on Nos. 11 and 15.

“Okay lang ang laro pero me mga holes naman talaga na nagkakamali,” said Bisera, pointing to her three-bogey skid from No. 6 marred by a three-putt miscue on the seventh where she flubbed a birdie chance and missed a par-putt bid from short range.

Abby Abarcas, the other junior golfer who tied Bisera at second in the first round of the 54-hole tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. and backed by PGTI official apparel Kampfortis Golf, made four bogeys against a birdie to drop to joint fifth at 149 after a 75.

Uy tied for the lead with a front 36 but slipped with a bogey-bogey finish, ending up with a 74 and dropping to Abarcas’ group that includes Koreans Ju Young Yang and amateur Jiwon Lee, who shot 78 and 76, respectively.

Constantino actually made an early charge from four shots down with birdies on Nos. 4 and 9 for the best frontside output among the 25-player field. But the back-to-back winner at Luisita and Villamor tripped with a double-bogey on No. 11 and yielded a stroke on the 13th to wind up with a 73.

She stood at joint ninth at 150, four strokes off Castil, with Apple Fudolin and Korean Min Yeong Kim, who put in a 74 and 72, respectively.