MANILA, Philippines — Nobody saw it coming. Perhaps, not even Ira Alido but the 19-year-old shotmaker was so motivated, so determined to pull this one off and end a three-year search for a breakthrough in the Philippine Golf Tour.

In moving day in the ICTSI Riviera Championship, when most braced for the rise and fall of the contenders, Alido came up with a round so solid – a seven-under 64 that put him unassailably ahead of the pack at 204.

He went eight-up over Zanieboy Gialon and Michael Bibat, the biggest third round lead in years, and though the Langer layout remains as unpredictable as ever, Alido has all the chances to wrap it all up and become the second player to win in new normal.

While majority of the bidders groped for form in wet conditions and scrambled just to salvage a par, Alido made it look quite easy taming the dreaded par-71 course, shooting four birdies at the front then running off three straight from No. 15 for a 31-33 card.

What was impressive was that Alido, who succumbed to final round pressure twice after leading in the third round, the last in the PGT Asia Tour at Wack Wack last year, finished without a bogey on a course that punishes even the slightest of mistakes.

Thus he moved 18 holes away from recording his first championship, ironically in the last of two bubble tournaments put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. He went winless in 2018-19 with full Philippine Golf Tour calendars.

Bibat, whose second round rally was cut short by late-hole miscues, finally hit it low but his 66, which featured six birdies in the first 13 holes, could only tie him at 212 with Gialon, who limped with a 73 after a second round 65.