EX-TENNIS JUNIOR HOTSHOT PAYUMO LEADS PH GOLF CHARGE WITH DIVISION 1 TITLE

Tonito Payumo, the former top junior tennis prospect in the country, compiled a four-day aggregate of 295 to rule Division 1 of the World Amateur Golfers Championship and Invitational in Malaysia recently.

Payumo fired rounds of 74, 70, 81 and 70 to turn back Petr Bilek of the Czech Republic.

Filipino Oliver Gan finished third with a 300 total.

Mabel Salivio, meanwhile, totaled 293 over four rounds to finish second runner-up in Division 3 as the Filipino group enjoyed modest success in the prestigious tournament.

The World Amateur Golfers Championship and Invitational is the largest amateur golf tournament in the world. Every year, qualifying tournaments are held in over 45 countries and the winners are sent abroad to compete in the world finals.

This year’s competitors played 72 holes in the top championship courses in Malaysia: The Mines Resort, Kota Permai, Sungai Long and Templar Park.

Other members of the team were Gerald Katigbak, Augusto Cruz, Marc Leviste, Alfredo Abarintos, Don Padilla, Mickey Tan, Francis Talion and Errol Chua.

Team Philippines’ 5-man team (Katigbak, Cruz, Salivio, Leviste and Abarintos) ranked seventh among 38 countries and its twoman team (Payumo and Tan) finished sixth out of 74 teams after leading the tournament at the halfway point.