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)

Thai humbles Bacolod, Davao aces

Thai ace Thanyakon Khrongpha bested the cream of the country’s pro golf by winning the $50,000 ICTSI-Mt. Malarayat Championship, closing out with an eagle-spiked five-under 67 for a three-shot victory over Juvic Pagunsan of Bacolod at the Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City, Batangas, Saturday.

Not even a final hole bogey could stop the 21-year-old Khrongpha from humbling the local field and pocketing the hotly-disputed crown worth $8,126 as he built enough cushion with a scorching five-under 31 at the front to rule the rain-interrupted 72-hole championship.

He wound up with a 15-under 273, launching his fightback from the middle of the pack with a fiery six-under 66 in the weather-delayed third round to tie Tony Lascuna of Davao at the helm early Saturday then kept the momentum with that 31 that featured three straight birdies from No. 5 and highlighted by an eagle-3 on the par-5 ninth.

That blazing start put Khrongpha five shots clear off Lascuna, the solo second round leader, who struggled with his putting early on while settling for an even 36 after nine holes. Lascuna birdied two of the first five holes coming home but ran out of holes in his comeback bid and like Khrongpha, bogeyed the final hole for a 71 to yield the runner-up honors to Pagunsan.

Juvic Pagunsan, who with teener Miguel Tabuena bounced back to within one off Khrongpha and Lascuna at the start of the final round of the event sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc., found his win streak snap despite a three-under 69, ending up three strokes behind Khrongpha with a 12-under 276 worth $5,616.

Lascuna, 40, wound up with a 277 for third worth $3,151 while the 16-year-old Tabuena finished solo fourth at 279 after a 72 marred by three straight bogeys from No. 14. He took home $2,551.

Eight other local bets followed suit, none able to scuttle Khrongpha’s title bid with Rufino Bayron, another Dabawenyo, placing fifth with a 280 after a 68 worth $2,051.

Jay Bayron, the reigning Order of Merit champion on the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour and brother of Rufino, strung up four birdies in the first five holes at the back, including three straight from No. 10, but bogeyed two of the last four for a 70. He wound up sixth with a 281 and received $1,801.

Khrongpha’s victory also kept Thailand’s domination of the event, 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., which Chawalit Plaphol ruled last year with an eight-stroke romp of Pagunsan.

Dabawenyo Elmer Salvador and Jerson Balasabas finished joint seventh with 282 after a 69 and 70, respectively, while Jhonnel Ababa bogeyed four of the first five holes for a 74, ending up tied for ninth with 2007 champion Mars Pucay, who eagled the par-5 17^th but wound up with an even par 72, at 283.

“I played really well. My only mistake was on the 16th where I hit my tee shot out of bounds,” said Thanyakon after turning in a 66 in the third round.

The Thai golfer from Konkan, who nipped Jay Bayron in sudden death to win the Kariza Indonesia Championship of the ASEAN PGA Tour last year, turned pro at the beginning of last year after a stellar season on the amateur circuit winning the Malaysian and Thailand Amateur Championships.

While Pagunsan, Lascuna and Tabuena gutted it out in the featured local flight, Khrongpha frolicked in a group that included compatriot Panuwat Muenlek and Balasabas, hitting three straight birdies from No. 5 before capping his romp with an eagle on No. 9.

With Pagunsan and Tabuena making identical 34s and Lascuna matching par 36 at the turn, Khrongpha found himself four clear off Pagunsan and Tabuena and five ahead of Lascuna, playing virtually pressure at the back where he dropped a stroke on the par-3 11^th but hit another birdie on No. 13 before holing out with a birdie-bogey finish for the win.[PR]

Sinfuego, Villacencio share ICTSI Eastridge lead

Richard Sinfuego charged home with two birdies to fire a four-under 67 and catch unheralded Arnold Villacencio for the lead at the start of the P1 million ICTSI Eastridge Classic, June 1, at the Eastridge Golf Club in Binangonan, Rizal Province.

With the big guns settling for oneunder or even par rounds, the lesserlights ran the show in the opener of the 54-hole tournament with Sinfuego sustaining a flawless frontside 33 with back-to-back birdies from No. 13 to negate a lone bogey mishap on No. 11.

Still, it was Sinfuego’s strongest start in years after the former amateur hotshot was disqualified, along with two others, from his last crack at the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour crown on a final hole infraction at the Del Monte Classic last year.

Earlier, the power-hitting Villacencio surprised the field with a solid 67, spiked by a closing 30 and highlighted by a pitch-in eagle from 70 yards on the par-4 No. 10.

The duo took a one-shot lead over another unfancied bet in Ruben Sasutil, who also rallied with a 33 at the back for a 68, while another shot back at 69 were Dabawenyos Elmer Saban and Rufino Bayron, who once won a pro tournament as an amateur.

The fiery windup was enough for Villacencio, whose best effort in the ICTSI-bankrolled Philippine Golf Tour was a joint third place finish at the ICTSI Classic in Malarayat last April, to seize the early lead with half of the field still to complete play.

Miguel Tabuena, the 16-year-old sensation gearing up for a breakthrough pro victory, rebounded from an opening 37 with a fiery 33 to tie Artemio Murakami, Dante Becierra and Joseph Labajo at 70.

Juvic Pagunsan, gunning for his second straight win after topping the ICTSI Orchard leg with a record setting final round 63 two weeks ago and third overall in four legs, turned in a one-birdie, one-bogey output to lead the nine-man group with even par 71s.PR

RP ladies open bid in World Am

The Philippines hopes to come out strong despite drawing a late morning tee-off
in the first two rounds of the Espirito Santo Trophy which gets under way
Wednesday (Oct. 20) at the Olivos Golf Club and Buenos Aires Golf Club in
Argentina.
Dabawenya Chihiro Ikeda, Dottie Ardina and Mia Piccio set out at the 10:40 a.m. flight at
the Olivos layout, raring to slug it out with rivals from South Africa and
Latvia and the 50 other nations competing in the ladies side of the World
Amateur Golf Championship.
“The roughs are thick so it is imperative for the girls to hit it straight,”
said RP and ICTSI team coach Bong Lopez, confident of her wards’ chances against
the best in the world in the three-to-play, two-to-count format event.
The Philippines placed 19th in the last staging of the biennial event in
Australia, ahead of SEA Games rivals Thailand (21st), Malaysia (37th) and
Singapore (42nd), with Ikeda then teaming up with Anya Tanpinco and former RP
Ladies Open champion and now Belgium-based Louise Manalo.
This time, Lopez said RP’s chances for a top 10 finish looks good with the
ICTSI-backed RP ladies, one of the earliest teams to arrive in this second
largest South American country, ready to tackle the field and the two courses
characterized by thick roughs, tight dog-legs and fast greens.
“Emphasis will also be on the iron play and putting since the greens are so fast
you have to put your approach shots on the right slopes,” said Lopez.
Ikeda, the reigning SEA Games individual champion, and the US-based Ardina and
Piccio had the luxury of familiarizing themselves with the two layouts for four
days although the troika found both courses tough, especially if the wind come
into play.
The RP ladies tee off at 11:50 a.m. at the Buenos Aires layout in the second
round with Belgium and Colombia.
Sweden romped off with a 12-shot win over Spain in 2008 and is one of teams
again tipped to vie for the championship that drew 53 nations, topping the
previous high of 48 in Puerto Rico in 2004 and Australia two years ago.
The men’s side of the event, the Eisenhower Cup, will be played Oct. 27-30 with
the Philippines to be bannered by Mhark Fernando, Jerson Balasabas and US-based
Judson Eustaquio.
The men’s team, then led by now pros and Dabawenyos Ferdie Aunzo and Rufino Bayron and
Balasabas, finished tied for 27th with Austria and Iceland with Scotland beating
the fancied United States by nine strokes to win the crown.(pr)