Riviera, Malarayat show way in The Tradition

Newcomers Mt. Malarayat and Riviera exploited their home course advantage to the hilt as host venues for the first two days to take the top two positions going into today’s final round of the eighth The Tradition tournament at Manila Southwoods.

Mt. Malarayat banked on the strong showing of their Team 2 composed of Michael Mendoza, Boycee Arguelles and Val Plata to amass 63.5 points after two rounds and bring a six-point lead over Riviera into the final 18 holes of action.

Mt. Malarayat’s Team 2 so far has the best score of 24 points out of 24 fielded by the 12 clubs competing in the event that is championing the purist approach in golf where nothing but club and individual pride is at stake.

Riviera’s steady performance in all three divisions including Team 1 and Seniors gave the Silang golfers the runner-up position another 8.5 points clear of three-peat-seeking Sta. Elena.

Sta. Elena needs a big improvement from its seniors crew which is in sixth place overall to keep its hopes alive.

Eastridge is running fourth with 46.5, Luisita is fifth at 43.5, Southwoods 43, Alabang 40.5, Valle 38.5, Canlubang 30.5, Forest Hills 28.5, Orchard 20.5 and Wack Wack 6.5.

Alabang is showing the way in the seniors division with 20.5 points, up 1.5 points on Mt. Malarayat and another two points clear of Riviera.

A Malarayat sweep of all three categories which would become the first in the history of the event is possible since Teams 1 and 2 of the Lipa, Batangas entry are leading in their respective divisions.

Malarayat 1 with 20.5 is 1.5 ahead of Eastridge while Riviera is third with 2.5 points behind while Malarayat 2 is two ahead of Riviera while third-placers Sta. Elena and Eastridge have similar 18s.

All three players of Malarayat Team 2 scored in the 60s with Mendoza turning in a 66, Plata 68 and Arguelles 69. Team 1 scorers were led by Mike Carr with 71.