Guido van der Valk churned out the only sub-par card in the third round, an eagle-spiked two-under 70 to zoom to a two-shot lead in the P6-million The Country Club Invitational, but the Dutchman was the first one to say that nothing is safe even with just 18 holes to play despite what seemed like a dominant effort.

“This golf course is difficult to dominate because mistakes are easy to make and birdies are hard to come by,” Van der Valk, who takes a 217 tally into the final round on Friday, said. “Everyone is facing the same challenges. I’ve been lucky to win it twice, but that doesn’t guarantee I’ll do it again.

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“There are too many great players in contention.”

Familiar foes

Joint first-round leader LJ Go fired a 74 to be two behind, with second-round pacesetter Clyde Mondilla another shot back after skying to a 77. Aidric Chan and Reymon Jaraula are four shots off after carding 76s with another four just within seven shots behind.

Incidentally, Van der Valk, who pitched in his third shot from the back of the green on No. 10 to get his back nine assault going, nipped Mondilla by a shot in 2020 before defeating Go by five strokes in 2023.

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Go, meanwhile, knows that things—dire or good—can happen at the windswept layout at any time, as he is unfazed by the two-shot deficit he will try to overhaul in the company of the leader on Friday.

“The finishing holes are tough, at least for me,” said Go, who signed for a second back nine bogey on No. 16.