Hard-fighting Filipinos wind up fourth

MANILA, Philippines — Team Philippines battled hard on a very demanding final day of the 31st Nomura Cup, tallying a final round level-par 144 to wind up just two shots out of the podium as Hong Kong-China polished off a wire-to-wire triumph with a closing 136 for a four-shot win over Japan.

Jet Hernandez fired a one-under-par 71 and Rolando Bregente accounted for a 73 as the Filipinos finished with a 570 total, 13 shots behind the champions, even as Japan came in second after firing a 138 at Bayhood No. 9 International Golf Club in Beijing, China.

The 21-year-old Hernandez finished in a tie for sixth spot individually, and the Filipinos still wound up with one of their best efforts in what is also known as the Asia-Pacific team golf championship in years, partly erasing the stigma of winding up 11th place at home in 2022.

“I am very proud with how all of us battled even if we didn’t have our A-game the entire week,” Hernandez, who went straight to the airport after his round for a flight back to Manila, where he packs his bags before flying to the United States to resume his psychology studies at the University of Denver.     

“We know we can compete with (the best countries in the region),” he went on. “We just have to continue putting ourselves in these situations.”

Team Philippines started out the final day trailing by just five, but just couldn’t hold it together in the stretch.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow, but we gave it our best till the very end,” 18-year-old Shinichi Suzuki said after failing to count with his worst score for the week, a 77.