Final hole mishap costs Miñoza pair solo lead

SILANG, Cavite — A three-putt bogey on the final hole dropped the defending champion Miñoza brothers — Raul and Paul — to a share of the lead with the tenacious duo of Gerard Cantada and JR Tanpinco halfway through the U-Bix-Riviera National Pro-Am golf tournament at Riviera’s Langer course here Thursday.

That bogey mishap from 24 feet on No. 18 gave the Miñoza pair a one-over par 72 on the ravine-laced layout and a 36-hole aggregate of 151, counting the 79 they churned out in the wind-raked first round of the two-man best ball competition, for a one-stroke lead over two teams.

That was the same output put in by Cantada and Tanpinco, who caught the fancied pair at the helm despite a 77 as the rest of the field struggled under difficult playing conditions on one of the country’s toughest championship courses.

"It’s nice to have a piece of the lead, but there are still two days to go," Raul said. "We will look at Gerard and JR as well as the other teams behind us as serious threats."

Like the Miñoza’s, the burly tandem of Cantada and Tanpinco fell prey on the unpredictable putting surface and flubbed a number of birdie opportunities which, had they made, would’ve given them the outright lead they shared with Ruel Banares and Marvin Dumandan in the first round.

"Unlike yesterday, we had six chances of nailing birdies that could have given us the solo lead," Cantada said. "But then, our putts refused to drop and that’s it."

Cookie La’O and Riviera president Danny Pizarro and Benjie Magada and partner Ricky Dizon carded a 75s to share third place at 152.

Banares and Dumandan limped home with a 79 to drop to joint fourth at 153 with Rey Pagunsan, who came all the way from Tokyo, where he plays in the rich Japan tour, and Col. Rico Javier, who shot a 74.

The top contenders are among the 97 teams competing in the event with U-Bix Corp. headed by chairman and chief executive officer Bert Bravo as major sponsor and Riviera as host club.

Other backers are U-Bix Konica Digital copiers, Epson Printers, U-Bix Riso Digital Duplicators, S-Yard-Bravo Golf, Pivo Praha, Grappa’s, Caffe Appassionato; Nike Golf (Pacsports), DHL Worldwide Express/WWW Express, Airlift Asia, ESAPSA, Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp., Philippine National Oil Co. Toyota Motors, San Miguel Corp. and Petron.

The top 30 teams — plus ties — will make it to the final round Saturday in the hunt for the top pro prize of P165,840 and P41,460 for the amateurs out of the pot of P1.2 million.

Jorge Abad and Michael Bibat came up with a 79 to remain in contention with 15, just three strokes of the joint leaders.

Armando Eso and younger brother Amado combined for a 78 to go with their previous 79 to take the next slot at 157 while Richard Abaring and Pepot Inigo made an 80 to be at 158.

Also in that level were Richard Sinfuego and Bobby Iñigo after an 83 to go with an earlier 75 and the golfing brothers of Jessie and Dave Hernandez, who came up with a 77.

Three tandems were at 159 with Vince Lauron and Paul Salvador a 77, Ramil Bisera and Jay Bayron carding a 78 and South Koreans Han Ji Min and Jong Gong Hui making a 78.

Willy de Tomas and Iggy Clavecilla also came up with a 78 to lead the next group at 160. Tied with them were rookie pro Michael Que and Hanson So Jr. and Caloy Nival and Jun Bernis after carding similar 83s.