7-birdie blitz lifts Magada to easy win

BINANGONAN, Rizal — Benjie Magada put on an astounding finish that could go down as first on the local pro tour — birdies on the last seven holes — as he became the first player to win a unique scoring format in the P1 million Eastridge Invitational golf tournament here yesterday.

Virtually turning the backside of the Eastridge Golf Club course into his own playground, the wiry Magada racked up an amazing 15 point-output from that stirring seven-birdie blitz in an otherwise fine day to overcome a four-point deficit off Tony Lascuña and complete a six-point romp over Cassius Casas.

It was indeed a shocking windup for the 37-year-old Romblon native, who actually pooled his winning 36 Stableford points only in the last three days since he opened up with a forgettable minus 1 effort and fell by as many as nine points to first round leader Casas.

But Magada cashed in on the quirks of the scoring format and flaunted his shotmaking talent to the hilt with 12 and 10 points in the middle rounds before overwhelming the field — and the course — with that tournament-best output in the final day.

"Di ko rin talaga inaasahan ito. Nag-click lang talaga lahat," said the soft-spoken Magada, who pocketed the top P145,000 purse in this tournament sponsored by Mega-Pro Resources International and Overseas Professional Achievers International, Inc. owned by Japanese members at Eastridge.

Casas settled for second with 30 points worth P87,300, while Lascuña, who actually recorded a 10-straight birdie splurge in a practice round in Canlubang two years ago, skidded to third with 25 points after an unproductive final round stint. He won P58,200.

Failing to sustain his bogey-free stints in the second and third rounds, Lascuña blew his three-point lead over Casas right in the first nine holes with the latter surging ahead by five over Magada, who even fumbled with a missed-green bogey on the first hole and flubbed an unlikely birdie try from a foot away off a downhill-sidehiller.

But those miscues failed to dampen Magada’s spirits as he rolled in a curling 10-footer on No. 12 for birdie that turned out to be the spark that lit up Eastridge’s tricky backside and burned whatever hopes Casas had when he regained the lead heading into the final nine holes.

A tap-in birdie on No. 11, a four-footer on the next, another one from six feet on the 13th before adding the last three inside four feet, the final set up by a spectacular blast from the greenside bunker, capped Magada’s breakaway finish.

Rounding up the top 10 in the tournament, the first since the First Gentleman Circuit where Magada won two, were Dan Cruz (25), Carito Villaroman (22), Danny delos Santos (15), Robert Pactolerin (11), Elmer Salvador (11), Rey Alit (10) and Lito Rempojo (7).