CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Manila Southwoods overcame a five-point deficit with a hot start and cruised to a 13-point victory over Eastridge in the 75th Philippine Airlines Men’s Regular Invitational at the Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club on Monday.
What started as a promising tournament with the lead changing hands over the course of the championship ended in familiar fashion as the team from Carmona, Cavite prevailed with another convincing triumph.
“I have to give it to our young guys for playing well today,” said Southwoods captain Thirdy Escano who steered the squad to its ninth championship.
Fifteen-year-old Shinichi Suzuki, an imposing sight at six-foot-two, used his length off the tee to shoot a rousing six-under-par 66, the best score in the final round of the Interclub in many years.
“This is one of my best rounds. Not only did I do it for myself but also for the team,” said Suzuki who admitted feeling the pressure on the eve of the final round.
“I would also like to pay tribute to our captain who gave a motivational speech last night.”
It marked the first time Manila Southwoods came from behind to win the championship. The team had looked vulnerable and initially appeared looking lost placing its bid for a ninth straight championship in peril.
The boys from Del Monte, whose elder players captured the senior division earlier, took the first round lead, surprising nearly everyone but themselves. Then the upstarts from Eastridge took over. But Southwoods, though trailing, was not really far behind. When finally opportunity came, it pounced.
“This is what makes the victory sweet,” said Escano. “Even when we fell behind by 13 points after the first round, I knew that we could come back.”
Southwoods made its move at Del Monte Golf Club in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon where it shot 107 and 115 to reduce Eastridge’s lead to five through the efforts of pro-bound Aidric Chan, Ryan Monsalve, and Lanz Uy.
“I thought we would at least tie Eastridge after the third round. Were it not for Jhondie Quibol’s 43 points, we would have seized the lead,” Escano said.
Overall, Southwoods closed with a collective three-under-par 111, drawing 36 points from Masaichi Otake and 33 from Miko Granada.
Eastridge, which trailed by five at the turn, managed to move within two points on the 13th hole but that was the closest it got as Southwoods finished strong.
Suzuki, playing in the final flight, hit a 58-degree wedge from 102 yards to just inches off the 18th hole for his seventh birdie.
“I wanted to finish in style. I saw the big crowd watching,” he said.
Eastridge settled for second place anew after a poor final-round output of 93 points for 416 total.
Ronel Taga-an was Eastridge’s top scorer with 32 points.
Eastridge drew 31 points from veteran Gary Sales and 30 from either Jeffren Lumbo or Chris John Remata.
Del Monte, the first-day leader, pooled 101 points to take the third spot with 410 while South Pacific Davao brought up the rear with 354.
Cebu Country Club regained the Founders division, beating Del Monte Team 2 by 11 points.
With Bayani Garcia and Jon Joseph Alvarez firing 35 points, CCC closed with 101 points for 391 points. The other scorer was Harvey Sytiongsa who carded 31 points.
Del Monte drew 35 from Simon Wahing, 33 from Keith Pagalan, and 31 from Mark Ivan Parilla to secure second place with 380, five points ahead of Valley.
Canlubang missed a podium finish by one point with 374 points.
The other division winners were Zamboanga Golf in the Aviator and San Juanico Golf Park & Country Club in the Sportswriters class.
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 Philippine National Bank.
VISA is a minor sponsor while Must Glow is joining as a donor.
Partial scores:
CHAMPIONSHIP
Manila Southwoods 429 (96-107-115-111), Eastridge 416 (104-107-112-93), Del Monte Team1 405 (109-102-98-96), South Pacific Davao 354 (83-88-93-90)
AVIATOR
Zamboanga 323 (74-91-76-82), Pueblo Team 2 317 (67-86-80-84), Team IMG Tagaytay Midlands 317 (88-81-72-76), Camp Aguinaldo 315 (90-69-84-72), Ambagan 305 (72-85-70-78), Sherwood Hills 305 (78-82-68-77), Villamor Air Base 299 (72-78-75-74), Brittannika 298 (71-78-60-89), Club Filipino de Cebu 296 (67-78-76-75), Alta Vista 288 (77-75-69-67), Summit Point 284 (68-80-73-63), Lumbia 279 (73-75-67-64), Fil Am Fairway Team 1 271 (64-67-77-65), Fil Am Fairfield 269 (60-68-66-75), Iligan 266 (55-72-73-66), Camp John Hay 259 (58-77-66-58), Fairway & Blue Water 257 (63-59-72-63), Illana Bay 255 (44-82-74-55), MSU Marawi 242 (54-72-60-56), Negros International 227 (43-74-68-42)
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