Chua bags Open title in bizarre end

Five down with eight holes remaining, Heidi Chua had started to lose her composure but Aileen Rose Yao and Ria Quiazon lost theirs faster than she did as the club bet snatched the Philippine Ladies Open crown before a stunned crowd at Wack Wack’s west course yesterday.

"I couldn’t believe I won," said the 20-year-old Chua, whose closing seven-over par 79 stood as one of the highest-ever winning scores in the annual event. She finished with a 227, 11 over par for 54 holes, and won by one stroke over Yao and Quiazon.

Yao and Quiazon couldn’t believe they had lost either. But with the former fumbling with an 82 and the latter carding a 78, both could only assemble identical 228s.

Not even a bogey on the final hole could stop Chua from pocketing the title as Quiazon blew a four-foot par putt that could have forged a sudden-death playoff.

Yao, who started the round two-up on Chua but fell two down when she teed off on 18th, salvaged a tie for second with a tap-in par putt from a lucky blast that saw her ball hit the flag.

Yao was already five strokes ahead of Chua after the 10th hole only to crumble into a series of miscues, including a wet double-bogey on the 15th and similar 6 on the par-4 17th after she three-putted from eight feet.

The diminutive former jungolf star wept unabashedly in the arms of her father Albert at greenside. The tears of frustration were far different than the joy she had last year when she overcame a four-stroke deficit to clinch the victory.

Chua said she looks forward to making it back to the national team for the Asian Games.

"I love representing the country. I will really work hard to get into the team," said Chua, who also bared plans of trying out her luck in the LPGA Qualifying School if she feels she is good enough.

Lily Chan of Sta. Elena (Class A) and Marissa Romano of Orchard (Class B) were the other winners of the tourney supported by PLDT, the Philippine Sports Commission, Carlos Palanca Foundation, Nice Shot DNF, Sentry Fire & Theft Safes and the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Sarah Henderson, who bannered the Hong Kong challenge, closed out with an 81 and settled for fourth place at 232, Lina de Guzman also scored an 81 for fifth spot at 235, jungolfer Jayvie Agojo checked in sixth at 236 after a 79 and another HK entry Eva Yoe (78) wound up at 237.