F Masters deal Hotshots first loss
LPGT breaks golf barriers with Taiwan LPGA event
The Ladies Philippine Golf Tour will co-stage a Taiwan LPGA event next month in Taiwan, marking the first time that the local circuit will be holding a tournament abroad through the Party Golfer Ladies Open on Oct. 3-5 at the National Golf Country Club in Miaoli County. The LPGT, through its sponsor ICTSI, and its TLPGA counterpart Party Golfer will be splitting the $100,000 money purse for the 54-hole tournament that will also give the Filipina pros the rare chance to compete overseas against the best and rising players in the region.
“This is in line with LPGT’s continuing effort to raise the level of play among the local pros and advance the growth of ladies pro golf,” said Colo Ventosa, general manager of Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., organizer of the country’s men’s and women’s pro circuits. “By exposing them abroad, we would be providing them the opportunity to compete on a different setup and environment, which we hope will be beneficial to their respective games.”
Pauline del Rosario, the reigning LPGT Order of Merit champion, has actually won a TLPGA event when she rallied in the final round and snared the TLPGA and Royal Open crown last year. Ventosa is confident of producing more and more Filipina winners in one of the region’s leading circuits.
“Our local pros have been competing with the TLPGA ladies through the TLPGAsanctioned LPGT tournaments that we’ve been holding twice each year the last three seasons. This time I am hoping our ladies will do well outside the Philippines,” said Ventosa.
“Pauline has already won a TLPGA tournament and we hope one of the ladies would be able to duplicate her feat soon,” she added.
The Party Golfer Ladies Open will feature the leading TLPGA players and those from other regional circuits with Symetra Tour campaigners Mia Piccio and Princess Superal to spearhead the Filipinas’ bid in the event cosanctioned by the TLPGA and LPGT.
The two circuits will also share the prize money when they co-stage the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Masters in February.
Phoenix Petroleum clamped down on Magnolia’s top gunners and unleashed import Eugene Phelps for another mighty all-around performance as the Fuel Masters carved out a 95-82 win to solidify their playoff aspiration in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
Phelps collected game highs of 36 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks, and his local teammates came out to also outperform their Magnolia counterparts to deal the Hotshots their first defeat in the season-ending tourney.
As Magnolia dropped to fifth place with a 2-1 win-loss card, Phoenix rose to second place at 5-1, just behind Blackwater at 4-0.
And the Fuel Masters intend to keep going in a bid to make the PBA post-elims play for the first time since last year’s Commissioner’s Cup.
“We’re No. 2 but a number of teams were closely bunched on top. You have to win as much as you can as the target in this conference is to be in the Top Four,” said Phoenix coach Louie Alas.
After the one-round-robin elimination phase, the top eight advance to the quarterfinals where the top four will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage against the lower four.
Alas was ecstatic with their win against Magnolia as it kept their momentum going entering the second half of the elims where they will be up against tough teams Barangay Ginebra, NLEX, Rain or Shine, San Miguel Beer and Blackwater.
“Finally, we beat Magnolia which I consider among the best teams in the league especially on defense. We’re able to put a clamp on their offensive guys,” said Alas.
Paul Lee, Mark Barroca and Ian Sangalang were contained by the efficient Phoenix defense. Romeo Travis came through with 28 markers and 19 boards but was forced to commit seven turnovers.
The Fuel Masters stepped up on both ends in the last eight minutes of the game, making a crucial separation from a close 75-72 count.
“Actually, we started strong only to get back into our old habit nung lumamang kami ng malaki,” said Alas.
Phelps, LA Revilla, Calvin Abueva, Matthew Wright and Jason Perkins formed the Phoenix unit that made a key run in the fourth, opening a 12-point spread at 87-73, entering the last three minutes of the game.
Barangay Ginebra topped San Miguel Beer in a duel of teams crippled with injuries to key players, banking largely on the triumvirate of Justin Brownlee, Aljon Mariano and Joe Devance to carve out a 110-102 win later in the night.
“We’re fortunate that June Mar (Fajardo) and Marcio (Lassiter) didn’t play for them. On the other hand, we also had guys not playing as well. It’s a key game for both, and we’re happy to pull this one,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone as they jacked up their record to 4-1 at third place.
San Miguel dropped to 2-2.