Putra Cuppers end up third

Rupert Zaragosa fired a five-under 67 but missed the individual crown by one as the Philippines ended up third in the Putra Cup topped by Thailand for the third straight year at the TMCC Garden Course in Singapore late Friday.

Zaragosa, the former national champion, failed to match his sizzling seven-under 65 in the third round, missing a couple of birdie chances in the raininterrupted final round of the premier event in the South East Asia Amateur Golf Team Championship.

Counting his back-to-back 71s in the first two rounds, Zaragosa pooled a 274, one shot behind Kammalas Namuangruk, who also closed out with a 67 for a 273 to anchor the Thais’ romp in the fourday championship.

With Napong Sriparsit also shooting a 67 and Sadom Kaewkanjana adding a 70, Thailand rallied with a solid 204 and completed its come-frombehind win with an 828, edging Singapore, which faltered with a 212 for an 831.

Joshua Ho shot a 66 for the hosts but veteran campaigner Gregory Foo could only match par 72 and one from Joshua Shou and Marc Ong’s 74s counted in the four-to-play, three-to-count format event.

The Philippines, whose campaign was sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and the Philippine Sports Commission and sanctioned by the National Golf Association of the Philippines, wound up with an 852 after a 208 with Ryan Monsalve and Weiwei Gao backing Zaragosa’s 67 with 70 and 71, respectively. Malaysia placed fourth with an 853 after a 214 while Hong Kong made a 208 for an 862 followed by Myanmar (220-863) and Indonesia (218-876).

The Phl’s junior team, on the other hand, pooled a 142 for a 571 and finished second to Thailand, which had a 551 after a 138, in the 10th Lion City Cup.

Aidric Chan and Ira Alido each fired 71s while Jolo Magcalayo didn’t count with a 74.

Indonesia placed third in the 54-hole tournament with a 575 after a 144 followed by Singapore (150587), Malaysia (143-592), Hong Kong (146-593) and Myanmar (160-616).

Alido also finished third in individual competition with a 282, which included a 69 and two 71s, with Ekpharit Wu of Thailand taking the gold with a 275 after a 69 and teammate Kousuke Hamamoto placing second with a 277 after a 69.