Cangolf springs back to life

DAVAO CITY ,Philippines   – Tommy Manotoc, as expected, brought life back to Canlubang’s title-retention bid yesterday after the third round of the Philippine Airlines Interclub seniors golf championship. 

The former PBA grand slam coach turned in the day’s best round at the up-and-down Rancho Palos Verdes course – 53 points which under the PAL scoring system is equivalent to one-over-73.

With a 147 for the day, counting Mari Hechanova’s 50 and Rene Unson’s 44, Canlubang now has a three-day aggregate of 427 points, 12 points behind Luisita heading into today’s final round.

What’s important, however, is that Canlubang moved a little closer behind its arch-rival. At the start of the day, Luisita was 12 points ahead of Cebu Country Club, and 16 up on Canlubang.

Luisita banked on Francis Gaston’s 49, Richie Garcia’s 48 and Lino Magpantay’s 46 for a 143 and a 439 total. Unless disaster strikes, Luisita is bound to regain the title it lost last year.

The Cebuanos scored 138 points behind Montito Garcia’s 52, Lor Alaan’s 47 and Anton Florendo’s 39 after back-to-back 141s, and dropped to third place at 420, 19 points off the pace.

The final round of the four-to-play, three-to-count tournament will take place at Apo Golf, a course that will favor the long-hitters. Canlubang has no other choice but to go all out today.

“It’s still possible,” said Manotoc, who birdied two par-3 holes, the sixth and 17th from inside 12 feet. He had three bogeys on Nos. 9, 10 and 15.

Manotoc sat out the first two rounds, and could only watch Luisita pull away. But he did what he had to do on the course, deliver the points and give Canlubang something to look forward to.

“The difference tomorrow would be on the second and third men,” he said.

Luisita team captain Iggy Clavecilla, who had 51 points the other day, took a rest yesterday, and will be back on the course to spearhead the team from Tarlac.

Clavecilla said a 12-point lead is not enough to break Canlubang’s back.

“If we can get 12 points from them at Apo (during the first round), they can also do that to us,” he said. At the back of his mind perhaps is the possibility of a big comeback by Canlubang.

Club Intramuros virtually wrapped up the Friendship division after padding its lead to 33 points over Fil-Am Florida.

Rupert Bayocot fired 39 points as Intramuros pooled 101 at the Apo Golf and Country Club to bring its total to 323 points. The other scorers were Rey Ulob and Tony Marfori with 37 and 25 points, respectively.

Rolly Gloda, the team’s fourth man, was disqualified for late submission of scorecard.

Fil-Am Florida scored 98 points on the strength of Marlon Battad’s 38, Rolly Asuzano’s 31 and Max Fronda’s 29 to stay in second place with 290, four points ahead of South Cotabato.

Romul Solivio (32), Bing Garcia (31) and Jimi Corpuz (25) accounted for South Cotabato’s 88 output for the day.

In the Sportswriters class, Fil-Am Hawaii seized the lead after collecting 136 points at Palos Verdes. Fil-Am Hawaii has a three-round total of 372, seven points ahead of Chamorro.

Scoring for Fil-Am Hawaii were Pat Viernes (50), Billy Galindo (45) and Willie Caliedo (41). Chamorro drew 48 points from Nick Borja, 43 from John Hattig and 34 from Robert Camacho. Running third was Davao with 352 points. Scorers were Boy Braganza (44), Boy Manajero (43) and Vic Noble (40).

The platinum sponsors of the 65th PAL Interclub are Mareco Broadcasting Network, Radio High, Stargate Media, Media Five, GE while the major backers are Asia Brewery, Business Mirror and Airbus.

Also lending support are the Department of Tourism, Philippine Graphics, Boeing International Corp., Bombo Radyo, Moevenpick Resort & Spa Cebu, Plantation Bay, Radisson Blu Hotel and Imperial Palace Waterpark & Spa Cebu.