RICO Hoey shot a 4-under-par 66 in the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge to tie for 17th place, his best finish of the season.
Hoey, who recently accepted an invitation to join the Philippine golf team in the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan in September, had a 274 total, 6 under par for the tournament.
He had three consecutive closing birdies to improve on his tie 19th at last week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Ricky Castillo, whose parents are from the Philippines, shot a 1-over-par 71 and tumbled to a tie for 42nd place.
Russel Henley won the championship after beating Eric Cole in a playoff which he forced with birdies on his last three holes for a 3-under-par 67.
Henley’s win, his sixth, denied Cole his first. Cole shot a final round even par 70, scoring pars on his last seven holes. He added one more par on the first playoff hole which Henley birdied from five feet.
Bianca steadies the ship with a closing 71
BIANCA Pagdanganan got herself a small boost ahead of the US Open after firing an even-par 71 in the final round of the ShopRite LPGA tournament on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
It was a much better performance than the day before where her game went south after a 5-over-par 76 which, incidentally, followed a 3-under-par 68 in the first round of the 54-hole tournament.
Her uneven outing may not be a good sign as she heads to the LPGA’s toughest major this week, finishing tied for 58th spot, 14 strokes behind the winner with her total of 215, 2 over par.
But her steady final round card that had three birdies and three bogeys, may give her a bit of confidence in the most demanding of all women’s majors.
Celine Boutier, meanwhile, has all the momentum after winning the tournament with a sparkling 5-under-par 66 to edge Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol by one stroke. Yubol, who was penalized one stroke for slow play in the second round, also shot a 66.
It was the second ShopRite win for Boutier who won this event five years ago. She was 9 under for the tournament at 204.
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