CAGAYAN de Oro--Del Monte accounted for its week-worst 141 points to close out Seniors Championship division play in the 75th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub, still more than enough for the Bukidnon-based bets to crown themselves champions for the first time.
"This is very sweet for us," skipper Yoyong Velez, who fired a five-over-par 77 for 49 points like Ondoy Mondilla, said after the team had the honor of posing as the winner for the first time. "The guys simply delivered and I am very proud of this homegrown team finally becoming a champion."
Del Monte breakthrough
Del Monte tallied 601 points after four days of action, with Roroy Minoza shooting 43 points and the club throwing away the 42 of Jun Maghamil for a 17-point win.
By clinching the senior title, Del Monte ended the 23-year-old rivalry between Luisita and Canlubang. Wack Wack was the last team outside of Luisita and Canlubang to win the title in 1999.
"We take pride in winning this event for the first time," Velez added. "Simply because we have been playing year in and year out using only players that come from Del Monte. We don't recruit players from the outside."
Anti-climactic final round
The final round was anti-climactic with Del Monte practically winning it on Saturday after opening up an 18-point lead. The real battle Sunday was for the second spot, which Canlubang and Manila Southwoods hotly disputed.
The Sugar Barons rallied from a one-point deficit going into the last two holes to tally a closing 142 like Southwoods for runner-up honors for the second straight year. Cangolf lost a lead in the final round in Cebu last year to yield the title to Luisita.
By being able to match Southwoods in the last round, Cangolf held on to a three-point edge for second place after getting 50 points from Damasus Wong, 48 points from the veteran Abe Rosal, and 44 from Abe Avena for 584 overall.
Manfred Guangko scored 51 points for the Carmona-based bets, which still came up with its best finish in this division for players 55 years old and above.
Southwoods also counted the 46 points of Joseph Tambunting and the 45 of Theody Pascual even as Luisita slipped to its worst finish here in years after tallying a closing 135 to wind up fourth.
The Luisitans got 52 points from Ferdie Barbosa and 44 from Dan Cruz, with the injured Marty Ilagan counting as the third scorer after a 39 as Rafael Raymundo skied to a 37.
Velez said that the job for Del Monte now is to look at repeating next year wherever the Interclub will be held, and he said that despite winning it all this year, no one is assured of a spot.
"We will all go through qualifying," he said. "I think that was the secret of our success here."
The 75th staging of the PAL Interclub is supported by diamond sponsors Mastercard and Asian Journal.
Platinum sponsors include Airbus, Primax Broadcasting Network, and Araw Hospitality while gold sponsors are Tanduay and Asia Brewery.
Joining the event as silver sponsors are ABS-CBN Global, Radio Mindanao Network, and the Philippine National Bank.
VISA is a minor sponsor while Must Glow is joining as a donor.
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