Benson outduels Davao's Bayron, takes hotly-disputed ICTSI Philippine Open crown

Berry Henson outdueled Jay Bayron in a day-long shootout under sizzling summer


heat and took the hotly-disputed ICTSI Philippine Open crown with a closing 73,

sinking a pressure-packed three-footer for par on the 72nd hole to clinch a

one-stroke victory at Wack Wack’s East Course yesterday.

Henson nearly blew a three-shot lead with eight holes to go but pounced on

Bayron costly back-to-back bogeys from No. 14 to wrest control by two then

bucked a three-putt miscue on the 17th with a superb lob shot that set up that

clinching three-foot par putt.

The California-based shotmaker, who had 73-283, will head back home to pursue a

dream stint on the PGA Tour starting with the Qualifying School beginning

Tuesday. And with two victories in the last three weeks, including his romp in

the Asian Development Tour’s Clearwater Masters in Malaysia, things should look

up indeed for the 32-year-old Henson.

He pocketed the top purse of $47,550, frustrating Bayron, who had a 72-284, and

the big gallery that had hoped for a Henson miscue when the American, just one

ahead over Bayron heading to the 18th, missed the green for a possible sudden

death.

Henson made sure it wouldn’t reach that point.

He thus became the second American in eight years to win the Open after Edward

Michaels humbled the field in 2004 at Riviera.

It was Henson’s first over par score at the tough layout after a 69-70-71 but

it

proved enough to best the star-studded field and reign in the event that had no

clear winner until the final hole.

Bayron actually overhauled an overnight two-shot deficit with a spectacular

pitch-in eagle on the par-4 No. 2, finding himself on top by one as Henson made

an opening hole bogey.

But it didn’t last long for the Filipino bet, who bogeyed No. 4 which Henson

birdied for a crucial two-shot swing and the American went three-up with

another

birdied on the seventh, a lead he held up to No. 11.

Henson, however, bogeyed the next and Bayron birdied Nos. 11 and 13 to draw

level and sparked hopes for a big finish for the reigning Order of Merit

champion of the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour.

But Bayron crumbled under pressure, bogeying No. 14 after missing the green

then

dropping another shot on a three-putt miscue on the next where Henson banged in

a delicate six-footer for par to gain another two-shot lead up to 17th.

South African Jbe Kruger, tied with Bayron in second after 54 holes, let Henson

and Bayron do the show majority of the way but stayed within striking distance

with a 36 at the turn. He moved to within one off Henson with a birdie on No.

12

but faded just as quickly with back-to-back bogeys from No. 15.

He settled for third with a 285 worth $18,300.

Only six players broke par in the final day on the challenging East layout,

which yielded just a total of 63 under-par scores throughout the four-day

tournament presented by ICTSI and which served as the seventh leg of the Asian

Tour.

Digvijay Singh also hung around in the early going for a possible attack which

never came as the Indian bet, five behind Henson at the start of the final

round, failed to sustain a three-under card after five holes and wound up with

a

71.

He finished fourth with a 286 and took $14,790 while Mars Pucay emerged as the

second best Filipino placer at 288 after a 74.

Other even-par scorers were Kwanchai Tannin (73) and Pariya Junhasavasdikul

(74)

of Thailand. Each received $10,400.

Rufino Bayron, younger brother of Jay, matched par for the second straight day

and salvaged joint eighth place at 289 with Daisuke Kataoka of Japan (71), Lin

Wen-hong of Taiwan (72), Brad Smith of Australia (73) and Prom Meesawat of

Thailand (75). They shared the combined purse of $30,516. PR