Sytiongsa, Pila seal 36-hole finale

Harvey Sytiongsa and Rolando Pila came away with a pair of tough wins to seal a showdown of club bets for the MVPSF Visayas Regional Match Play crown while Junia Gabasa and Pamela Mariano lived up to their billing to dispute the ladies diadem at Cebu Country Club yesterday.

The eighth-ranked Sytiongsa shocked the top seed Jacob Rolida in morning quarterfinals, winning two of the last three holes for a 2-up victory. The CCC bet then survived a late meltdown in an afternoon clash with Masaichi Otake to snatch a victory on the 19th hole and barge into the finals of the event serving as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Tour and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

Sytiongsa actually went 2-up against Otake with two holes to play in regulation but bogeyed them, enabling the latter to extend the match. But the former recovered and toughened up in the playoff, scoring a par while the latter ended up with a bogey as Sytiongsa sealed a final clash with his fellow club bet.

The third-ranked Pila, a caddie at CCC, dominated Martin Mendoza in the quarters and came away with a 3&2 win then used his familiarity with the tight layout to outfox the fancied Chan at the backside in their semis clash, coming up with clutch birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to carve out a 2-up triumph.

Sytiongsa and Pila dispute the crown in a marathon 36-hole finale with top seed Gabasa and No. 2 Mariano clashing for the ladies crown, also over 36 holes.