John Hay virtual champ

BAGUIO, Philippines – Camp John Hay all but wrapped up the Fil Championship crown with one round left in the 62nd Fil-Am Invitational golf tournament as it stretched its lead to 21 points with a 115 at CJH course here yesterday.

Fred Puckett fired 32 points, Clyde Cabreros and Park Jun Won carded a pair of 28s while Federico Mandapat Jr. turned in 27 points for the defending champions’ 54-hole aggregate of 333, 21 points ahead of Maxima Komatsu, which had a 312 after a 108.

“It’s not yet over. We have a round to go and we can only say that we won when the last player holes out in the final day,” said Mandapat.

Rudy Lockey struggled with a 26 and didn’t count in the tournament backed by Toyota, Pacsports, Illy, Empire and Wilson.

“We will just have to play our game and hopefully Fred (Puckett) will play a better game and carry the team since he is a candidate for the individual medal,” said Cabreros.

Puckett shows the way in the individual race with 93 points, including a solid 36 in Day 2 at the BCC course.

“Baguio Country Club really hurt us with Puckett and Lockey playing well there,” said Maxima Komatsu team captain Junie Fontanilla, who scored a 21 and counted for the team’s 108 at the longer CJH course.

Poch Hernandez led the former champions with 32 points while Florene delos Santos and Bong Sison had 28 and 27 points, respectively. Dennis Cabalfin failed to count with a 20.

Philippine Navy, with Francisco Sumulong and Art Alabanza scoring 26 points apiece, is in third with a 299 after a 101. Emil Alviar had a 25 while Teodoro Runes added a 24.

Edgardo Ysrael had a 22 and did not count in the event backed by Fashion Rack, Air 21, Rizgolf, Supreme Bike, GPS Tracker, Golforce, San Miguel, Le Chef, Camp John Hay Development Corporation, Beaufort and Bayan Business.

Meanwhile, Mars Garcia scored 32 points at the BCC course as CJH shot a 106 for a 316 total, padding its lead to 64 in the Am Championship.

Lee Si Kung made a 28, Nelson Eslao had a 24 and Ric Madayag chipped in 22 for the CJH, which also moved closer to a sweep as Lee took the individual lead with 84 points.

Team Dragon had a 78 and 246, just four off Okinawa Golf Team which scored a 79 with Tom Dailey firing 29 points to stay two off Lee in the individual race.

Meanwhile, Edgardo Pagulayan scored 31 points to lead Isabel GC-Cauayan’s 97 output and 266 total, 30 points ahead of Square & Compass Golf of Nueva Ecija 3 in Fil H.

Carlo Baltao had a 26, an 18 from Jun Maranan and 22 from Martin Salazar for Isabela.

Michael Nunez had 23 to lead Square & Compass’ 83 points for a 236 aggregate, while Swanny Mangaoang had a 27 to lead Razcals to 71 and 204 total.

Fil-Hawaiian scored 82 points for 257 as it padded its lead to 18 over Team Brassie, which got a 71 and 239 total in Am H. Club Intramuros Seniors I made 71 for a 220.