Thais survive fiery RP rally

CANLUBANG – For a while, it seemed that the Philippines was in for a miracle finish.

But it wasn’t meant to be, as Thailand, after blowing a huge 13-stroke lead, got lucky in the end to escape with a two-stroke victory over the host country yesterday in the 47th Putra Cup.

Given up for dead at the start of the cloudy day, the Philippines’ Mhark Fernando (68), Jay Bayron (69) and Ferdinand Aunzo (69) turned in their best rounds in four days at The Country Club.

The Thais, tipped to win by a mile, struggled and looked ready to become probably the first team in Putra Cup history to lose the team title despite a 13-stroke lead entering the final round.

After 14 holes, the Thais trailed the Filipinos by three shots.

A string of birdies, however, enabled Thailand to even up matters going into the final hole. The Philippines then threw the title away when Fernando and Aunzo both bogeyed the par-4 closing hole.

All Thai players who counted for the day, Varut Chomchalam (72), Thanyakorn Krongpha (72) and Kiradech Aphibarnrat (73), parred the 18th hole, a 434-yarder. Varut turned savior for the Thais with a rare back-to-back chip-in birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, before Kiradech hit another bird on the par-3 17th with a long, downhill putt.

“We just got lucky. Varut was coming off a triple-bogey on No. 14 when he made the chip-ins. When you chip, it means you missed the green. So we were lucky,” said Thai captain Methee Sudasna.

“We never took the Philippines for granted. True enough, they even had the chance to win. But golf is like that. You always have a fifty-fifty chance even if you are ahead,” he added.

After Kiradech holed out for the victory, he was welcomed by his teammates outside the green. They appeared all set for the coming SEA Games back home.

The Philippines is the defending champion in the men’s team and individual events (Juvic Pagunsan) in the SEA Games, and will have to face the same Thai team, except for Varan Israbhakdi (75) who will be replaced long-hitter Pipatpong Neawsuk.

Filipino captain Caloy Coscolluela said the title, last won by the Philippines in 1996, was there for the taking, but was quite happy that the Filipinos went down fighting.

“It’s quite a consolation for us that we gave the Thais a very big fight even on the final day although we could have won it. Our players never gave up despite the huge deficit,” he said.

Thailand nailed its eighth Putra Cup crown in the last 11 years (the last one in 2005) with an 860, followed by the Philippines’ 862, 2006 winner Singapore’s 868, Indonesia’s 879, Malaysia’s 891 and Hong Kong’s 905.

Singapore’s Quincy Quek took the individual crown with a 66-284, beating Kiradech via a countback. Fernando was third at 287 followed by Bayron with the same score. Aunzo was eighth (291) while Jhonnel Ababa was 10th at 292.