Pinoys bag Putra Cup overall rown in style
TRECE MARTIREZ, Cavite – Reclaiming the Putra Cup crown after 17 long years, Team Philippines made it extra special with a seven-under 209 closing round under intermittent rains that capped an incredible 22-stroke win over Singapore at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club course here yesterday.
The Filipinos bucked the inclement weather and routed the field for the fourth straight day in an amazing romp that propelled the Philippines to a first top-podium finish in the Southeast Asian Championship since 1996 in Myanmar.
All four Filipino players broke par in a fitting ending to their wire-to-wire victory – the country’s first in a regional event since the 2005 SEA Games two-gold sweep by the Juvic Pagunsan-led team.
Rico Hoey blazed home with a four-under 68, Jobim Carlos submitted a 70 and Jonathan delos Reyes and Ruperto Zaragoza both closed out with a 71, one of which counted for the team.
Hoey and company totaled 209 under the four-to-play, three-to-count format and finished with a four-day aggregate of 840, duplicating the 2006 championship of Antonio Lascuña, Richard Sinfuego, Rey Pagunsan and Gerard Cantada.
“It’s such a wonderful feeling, reclaiming the title on home soil,” said National Golf Association of the Philippines president Tommy Manotoc. It was the Philippines’ 18th Putra Cup crown. Delos Reyes was in a neck-and-neck fight with Malaysian Gavin Green for the individual top honors until the Filipino met disaster, twice sending his drive out of bounds for a double par on the dogleg, par-4 17th hole.
Green and Delos Reyes were tied at 15-under – five-under in the day – after the 16th. The Malaysian foiled the Philippines’ sweep bid with a bogey on the 17th and a regulation par on the final hole.
Green finished at 14-under 274 followed by three Filipinos in Delos Reyes (277), Hoey (280) and Carlos (283).
But there’s no stopping the Filipinos from running away with the overall crown in the eight-nation meet. It was practically all over after the first 54 holes with Team Phl taking a huge 14-stroke lead over Singapore.
Hoey, a world jungolf gold medalist last year, led the Filipinos’ last-day charge, gunning down five birdies against a bogey. He saved par from the greenside bunker in the final hole to cheers from the gallery.
Singapore closed out with a 217-862, beating deposed champion Thailand (864) by two for second place.
Unable to find worthy backups to Green, Malaysia wound up fourth at 225-873 with Abel Tam and Khai Jei Low counting with a three-over 75 and 10-over 82, respectively.
Malaysia (139-576) leaned on the steady closing rounds of Ven Chin (70) and Kelly Tan (69) to beat Thailand (144-577) by the thinnest of margins for the Santi Cup (women’s play).
The Philippine squad of Regina de Guzman, Simon Victoria Hoey and Katrina Delen Briones came in third at 151-593.
Thailand swept the Kartini Cup (junior women’s) and the Lion Cup (junior men’s) titles in this golfest to be held in Brunei next year.
Pauline Del Rosario fired a 75 and Bianca Pagdanganan assembled a 76 as the Filipinas settled for second in the Kartini Cup, losing by five to the Thais. They were tied at 431 through 54 holes.
The 72-hole championship was sponsored by the Royal & Ancient of Scotland, MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Amateur Golf Tour, PSC, POC, Philippine Golf Foundation, DOT, Pancake House, Asia Brewery, Turf Company, Sligo, Ping, Intramachineries Doosan, Suntrust, Crimson Hotel and Golf Depot.