Rosales joint 3rd in Singapore Open

Gerald Rosales failed to sustain a fiery third round charge and a birdie-par-birdie start yesterday as he settled for a 72 and joint third place in the rich Singapore Open won by Indian Jyoti Randhawa in Singapore.

It was such a frustrating windup for Rosales who teed off in the final round oozing with confidence following a record-setting 62 at Singapore Country Club’s Island course Saturday. But after drawing level with Randhawa twice — first with an opening hole birdie and then on the par-5 No. 3, the reed-thin Filipino shotmaker faltered with bogeys on Nos. 6 and 8.

That enabled Randhawa to pull away from Rosales as the Indian ace made the turn at 32 before coasting to a three-stroke victory on a closing 67 for a 20-under 268.

Rosales never recovered his bearing after flubbing a three-foot birdie putt on No. 5 and his solo hold of third place slipped when he bogeyed the par-4 17th.

"After missing that easy birdie chance, I didn’t make any other putts," said Rosales, whose finish worth $18,700 (P935,000) more doubled his prize when he won the RP Open last month.

South African Hendrik Buhrmann, the halfway leader, snatched second place with a 271after a 69 as Rosales fumbled with two more bogeys at the back that negated his birdies on Nos. 11 and 15. He wound up with a 14-under 274 for a share of third place with Korean Charlie Wi (70), Englishman Simon Dyson (65) and Indian Amandeep Johl (69).

Despite the setback, Rosales hopes to do well in the next week’s Omega PGA Championship in Hong Kong.

Danny Zarate also struggled in the final round as he carded a three-over par 75, enabling Mars Pucay, matching par 72, to gain a share of 20th place at 280.

Rodrigo Cuello fired a 71 and salvaged 24th place on a 281 while Cassius Casas, still trying to recover his bearing after that frustrating stint in the US PGA Tour qualifier, had a 72 and finished in 44th place at 285.