Delariarte bucks poor start to win

Back-to-back national amateur champion Jerome Delariarte overcame a poor start with four birdies coming home to shoot an even-par 71 yesterday and capture the championship division of the Samsung Amateur Tour kick-off leg at the treacherous Forest Hills Golf and Country Club course in Antipolo City.

Tied with reigning SEA Games champion Juvic Pagunsan at the start of the round, Delariarte was already four over after the front nine but he caught fire, shooting four straight birdies from the 10th en route to a four-stroke victory over his many-time national teammate.

After an opening round 73 on Thursday, Southwoods frontliner Delariarte finished with a 144 aggregate against the 148 of Pagunsan, who had rounds of 73-75, in the centerpiece division of the 36-hole event serving as the first of eight elimination legs all over the country.

The next leg will be held at the Rancho Palos Verdes course in Davao on July 10-11.

Ronnie Torrecampo, playing out of Canlubang like Pagunsan, wound up third with his 75-76-151.

It was the first time that the two top amateurs of the country went head-to-head although this showdown was very short.

For his victory, Delariarte received a Samsung television set from Sang Youl Eom, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics Philippines. Pagunsan went home with a DVD and Torrecampo a microwave oven.

The rest of the division winners in men’s Class A, Class B and Class C and women’s Class B also received the same prizes. Co-sponsors of the event organized by the Professional Sports Management Group, Inc. are Mario’s Restaurant, Wilson, Gatorade, Tokyo Tokyo, Microtel,Custom Clubmakers and Dunlop Golf with radio stations Killer Bee, Citylite 88.3, Wave 89.1, 99.5 RT and 103.5 K-Lite as official media partners.