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BACOLOD CITY—Ferdie
Aunzo staked his claim as the country’s top amateur when
he captured the Philippine Amateur Golf Championship
Sunday, overwhelming JR Tanpinco in their scheduled
marathon 36-hole duel and cruising to a 5&4 victory at
the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club.
Aunzo
shook off Tanpinco’s early challenge by taking three of
the last five holes at the back to go 4-up in their
morning clash, endured the 30-minute weather delay
shortly after the resumption of play before coasting to
the victory, capping a great four weeks of competitive
golf that netted two victories abroad.
But this
one was the sweetest for he beat the cream of the crop,
fashioning out the win after five grueling days of
top-level golf, that included two rounds of stroke-play
eliminations which he topped before beating two rivals
in each of the next three days of match play.
“Nakakapagod
din [It was tiring],” said Aunzo after cutting
Tanpinco down to size with his A-game that, however,
started to waver in their second stint at the backside
of the par-70 layout. “Medyo kumakaliwa na ang palo
[My shots started to head left].”
Tanpinco,
leaning on sheer guts in the absence of solid
preparation in a tournament of this magnitude after
arriving only last week following a 16-month study in
San Diego, didn’t fare well either in the afternoon
match, falling farther behind by five holes after six
holes before birdying the par-4 No. 7 to get to within
four again.
He never
got closer from there.
“I
actually had my chances to come back but I just couldn’t
make the putts,” said the 26-year-old Tanpinco, who fell
short of his bid of leaving the ranks as champion.
“I am
definitely out of golf,” said Tanpinco, who is looking
forward to working as an assistant golf manager at The
Orchard beginning this month.
Anya
Tanpinco made it back to back as the national ladies
champion but not after a big scare from the 13-year-old
Irina Gabasa, who showed exceptional courage and
fighting spirit in dragging the 24-year-old Southeast
Asian Games silver medalist all the way to the 36th
hole.
Gabasa,
playing out of Cebu, flashed some kind of resiliency as
she battled back from four holes down to within one
after scoring a par in the 35th (No. 17)) hole then
watching Tanpinco crumble with a three-putt bogey.
But Anya
Tanpinco kept her composure and took a 2-up victory with
a routine par on the par-5 18th as Gabasa flubbed an
eight-foot par putt before conceding the hole, the match
and the crown to the hometown bet.
Anya’s
win also capped the sweep of the ICTSI-backed bets for
the second straight year with Rufino Bayron and
Carmelette Villaroman capping the team’s domination by
taking third place honors.
Bayron,
the DHL Open champion, beat Erwin Vinluan, 2&1, while
Villaroman outclassed Apple Fudolin, 5&3, in the event
sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, Yamaha
Golf Car and Tanduay Distillers, Inc.
Meanwhile, Aunzo, who won the Karambunai Open and the
Sabah Amateur Open in Malaysia three weeks ago, Anya
Tanpinco and the other top finishers of the event
conducted by the National Golf Association of the
Philippines,
resume their hunt for spots in the national pool as they
clash for six slots in the eliminations beginning
tomorrow at Valley Golf Club. |
