Riviera, Valley arrange Fed League title clash

MANILA, Philippines - Riviera and Valley came from behind to pull off semifinal victories at their home courses and arrange a showdown for the 2010 Men’s Federation League golf championship.

Losing 2-3 in their away game, the Rivierans bounced back with so much might as they hacked out a 5-0 sweep of archnemesis Forest Hills the next day to advance to the title match and bolster their bid for a fourth league crown.

After Vince Infante-Yeom Se Hyen (greensomes) and Bok Labastilla-Brixton Aw (high-low) scored 4&2 decisions, Eric Virata-Wang Jeung Hun (scramble) earned a 4&2 win to ensure a playoff before Pepot Inigo-Chito Servida clinched the victory with a 3&2 result in the aggregate format.

The 2&1 victory of Howie Sison and Jon Judan was icing on the cake as Riviera returned to the finals barely more than a year after setting a league record of three titles.

Riviera will dispute the title with Valley, which went through trying moments before disposing of Eastridge.

Eastridge took a big 3.5-1.5 lead at home and looked poised to make it to the finals when its best-ball pair Chez Roque-Owen Lee led by three with as many holes left.

Valley’s Richard Kim and Honor Mendoza, however, battled back to sweep the last three holes, forge a tie and send the match into a sudden-death playoff. Chino Raymundo then took over by holing a birdie putt to lift his aggregate partnership with Zaldy Villa past the tandem of Junnel Roxas and Koji Yazumi.