Asistio cops Samsung Tour crown

LIPA, Batangas — Youthful Tonton Asistio dished out a man-sized job to emerge the biggest winner in the Samsung Amateur Golf Tour grand finals, closing out with a 72 and beating Michael Bibat by three strokes despite a bogey-bogey finish at the Summit Point Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

A crucial two-shot swing on No. 7 was all Asistio needed to turn what had promised to be a shootout with Bibat into a final day romp by the youngest player in the fold as the Manila Southwoods mainstay simply rolled to victory with a solid game linking both nines of the water-laced layout.

"I just played my game after I gained from that two-shot swing on No. 7," said the 16-year-old Asistio, referring to his clutch birdie on the seventh, which Bibat bogeyed that gave him a three-shot lead.

He actually padded that to six with birdies on Nos. 10 and 14 before Asistio slowed down with the title virtually assured and Bibat and the rest of the pack failing to come up with a strong finishing kick.

Asistio, tied with Bibat and one-up over Boyet Saragoza at the start of the round, wound up with a 292, that included another 72 and a pair of 74s, to post the biggest triumph in his young golfing career.

Bibat birdied the opening hole to move up by one shot but spent the rest of the day groping for form that saw him bogey five of the next 10 holes. He birdied the 18th and finished second with a 295.

Saragoza, the halfway leader in this event sponsored by Samsung and featured the championship division winners of the various legs, never recovered from a disastrous start and skied to a 79 and 300 for third place. Erwin Vinluan also limped with an 80 to finish fourth with 306 while Jong Laput wound up with a 309 after a 76.

Boy Blue Ocampo, head of the organizing Professional Sports Management Group, awarded the trophy and a top-of-the-line Samsung cell phone unit to Asistio during the awards rites, which coincided with the launching of the fifth Samsung Tour beginning next month.

Meanwhile, Rodel Mangulabnan rallied with a 72 for a 149 and turned back Shean Bedi, carding a 77-153, for the Class A crown in the men’s side of the event backed by Philippine Airlines as the official carrier, Tokyo Tokyo, KZG, Microtel, Coppertone Sport, Sunbolt, Rudy Project, C-Lium Fiber and Sports Plus. Media partners are Wave 89.1, Jam 88.3, 89.9, 99.5 RT, 103.5 K-Lite and Killer Bee.

Bill Yoon cruised to victory in Class B with an 81-157, dominating Song Moi Young, who had a 172 after a 91, while Emil Alviar III romped away with the Class C crown with an 83 for a 163 and a 15-shot win over Pepe Mendoza (89) and Ahn Soong (91), who both had 178s. Raul Ilagan topped Class D with a 177 after an 89, beating Emmanuel Santiago, who had a 94 for a 188.

Beverly Mendoza of St.Paul Pasig sustained her pace and carded a 77 and a 149 to beat Crystal Superal (78-151) by two strokes and win the Class A diadem in the ladies division. Marian Woo shot an 82 and a 170 to hold off Lyn Mangulabnan for the Class B title, while Elizabeth Salazar made 100 for a 194 and won by four over Jocelyn Catan (98-198) in Class C.