Playoff loss like a win for Miñoza

Filipino ace shotmaker Frankie Miñoza hopes to play with renewed confidence in the Japan PGA Tour after recalling his old competitive form in losing via sudden death playoff the DyDo Dringco Shizuoka Open golf championship Sunday.

Miñoza will be playing his third tournament early next month, the Tsuruya Open in Hyogo, seeking to end a two-year-long victory drought and atone for his so-so campaign that left him in 37th place finish in the Order of Merit ranking last year.

He nearly won last Sunday after battling back from nine strokes down to force a playoff with Japanese pro Eiji Mizoguchi with a closing four-under 68-279 at the Shizuoka Country Hamaoka Course.

But the 42-year-old Miñoza, who last won in 1998, failed to sustain his final round charge and holed out with a bogey on the first playoff hole, which Mizoguchi, who wound up with a horrendous 77, parred.

Miñoza won $83,000, around P4 million, the runner-up finish sure to augur well for his campaign this year.

Meanwhile, Gerald Rosales failed to come up with a top 10 finish as he struggled with a final round 72-280 and settled for joint 12th in the $300,000 Wills Indian Open in New Delhi, India.