Minoza snatches crown, nips Dabawenyos Saban, Bayron in playoff

Frankie Minoza (center) shows his trophy after edging Elmer Saban in the second playoff hole to rule the P2.5 million ICTSI Wack Wack Championship, the final leg of the 16-stage ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour. With him are Narlene Soriano, PR manager of the sponsoring ICTSI, and Wack Wack director Pablo Soon.

Bukidnon's Frankie Minoza pulled off one of the most stirring comebacks on the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour, foiling Davaoneos Rufino Bayron and Elmer Saban in the second playoff hole to capture the hotly-disputed P2.5 million ICTSI Wack Wack Championship crown at WW's East course, Friday.
Minoza rallied from seven strokes down to force a sudden death, hitting two crucial birdies on Nos. 13 and 16 and a couple of clutch pars as he and Bayron shot the day’s best scores of 70 while Saban wavered with a 75 in a challenging day at Wack Wack.
The troika finished tied for first at one-under 215 at the close of the 54-hole tournament as the erstwhile leaders, including Ferdie Aunzo, succumbed to pressure and the East challenge in a topsy-turvy final round that served as a fitting ending to the 16-stage circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
As Bayron bowed out after overshooting the 18th green and going out-of-bounds in the first playoff hole, Minoza failed to shake off Saban, flubbing an 18-foot birdie putt. But he pulled through in their third stint on the par-4 finishing hole, tapping in for par then watching Saban miss a pressure-packed six-footer to clinch the win and record his only local crown this year.
But more than the P450,000 purse, the victory proved to be more of a triumph of the spirit for a player on the twilight of his career.
“This is special since I’m already 51 and there are a lot of young players around. But I showed I can still win,” said Minoza, who also won his second Philippine Open crown at Wack Wack in 2007.
It was the third playoff victory recorded in the third full season of the circuit sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. but it topped the first two in terms of excitement and unpredictability, especially in the final round when at least nine players got into the title picture and the leaders changed after each wayward shot or missed putt.
In the end, it was the experience of Minoza that prevailed, his intimidating presence perhaps rattled off Bayron and Saban in the playoff and took their game out of sync, particularly Saban, who cracked with a three-putt miscue from 18 feet.
“Sayang, I had the chance but I just got unlucky,” rued Saban, who nevertheless banked his biggest earning (P320,000) since winning P92,500 in placing second to Juvic Pagunsan in the ICTSI Apo leg last year.
Bayron, winner at Aboitiz Invitational, settled P210,000.
After two 69s, Aunzo’s two-shot lead vanished into thin air with a bogey on No. 2 and a double-bogey on the par-5 No. 5 when he pulled his second shot …He was never the same after that mishap, dropping two more strokes on Nos. 7 and 9 for a birdie-less 41. He matched that output at the back for an 82 in one of the biggest collapses in the circuit.
Aunzo wound up with a 220 and tumbled to joint eighth with Tony Lascuna (72), BDO Canlubang Invitational winner Artemio Murakami (75), Randy Garalde (74) and Michael Bibat (73).
Rates, tied with Saban at second at the start of the final round, likewise wilted under pressure and finished just a shade better than Aunzo with an 80 for a 221 for a share of 13th with ICTSI Negros Occidental winner and former Phl Open champion Robert Pactolerin (73) and Marlon Dizon (77).
Cassius Casas, winner in the Phl Open at WW in 2001, briefly took the lead with a birdie on No. 11 for a two-under card, only to reel back with a bogey on Nos. 14 and missed joining the playoff with a closing double-bogey. He closed out with a 73 for joint fourth with Charles Hong (71) and Dutch Guido Van der Valk (72) at 217.
Anthony Fernando shot a 71 and a 218 for solo seventh in the tournament backed by MJ Carr Golf Management, Inc., Srixon, Callaway, Unilab, Titleist, Sharp, Custom Clubmakers, Mizuno, PinoyGolfer.com, Inquirer Golf, A Round of Golf, Studio 23, Balls, and Dynamic Sports.(pr)