Megafiber hangs on, nears Fil-Am crown

BAGUIO, Philippines - – Megafiber slowed down with a 103 at the tougher Baguio Country Club layout but still padded its lead from 11 to 14 points over defending champion Camp John Hay in the third round of the seniors Fil Championship of the 64th San Miguel Fil-Am golf tournament here yesterday.

Rene Unson sustained his form and shot 28 points after shooting 30 and 31 at the nearby Camp John Hay layout in the first two days to lead Megafiber’s charge. Mari Hechanova, playing out of Canlubang, chipped in 26 points while Ben Jacinton and team manager Albert Garcia tossed in 25 and 24 points, respectively, under the Molave scoring system.

With a 337 aggregate, Megafiber stood 14 points clear of John Hay, which pooled a 105 for a 323. Fred Puckett played true to form and fired 32 points but Park Jong-won and Bong Mandapat settled for 26 points each and Lee Ki Seung added 21 markers.

John Hay actually took charge in the early going but fell behind after Lee was found to have used a non-conforming driver in the first two rounds and the team was penalized.

Pugo Adventure owner Eugene Martin stole the spotlight by firing the second hole-in-one in the tournament on No. 9 of the BCC. He used an 11-iron Honma Beres and Titleist No. 2 ball.

Pugo Adventure struggled with a 99 but remained in the title hunt with a 322 heading to the final round of the annual event backed by title sponsor San Miguel Corp. and presented by Toyota.

Ed Montenegro paced Pugo Adventure with 29 points while Goody Ignacio, (Ret.) Gen. Eugene Martin and Richard Sali added 26, 23 and 21 points, respectively. Jun Orbillo’s 19-point output failed to count for the team.

Manila Southwoods, meanwhile, also sputtered with a 93 and fell way behind at 303. Bong Sison shot a 24 while Freddie Mendoza, Charlie Kim and Florene delos Santos each produced 23 points and Danny Samaniego’s 15 didn’t count.

In the Am Championship, Nueva Ecija moved closer to its title-retention bid as it pooled a 115 for a 300, six points ahead of Camp John Hay, which shot a 104 for a 294. Philippine Navy stood in third with a 289 after a 98 while the Dragon Golfers assembled a 95 for a 274.

Tomas Joson III starred for Nueva Ecija with 31 points while Manuel Bakunawa, Joel San Vicente and Bobby Inigo added a 29, 28 and 27 points, respectively.

Jeong Sek Jun fired a 31 and Rudy Lockey shot a 30 but Boni de Castro struggled with a 23 and Mars Garcia turned in 20 points for the hosts.

The Navymen were spearheaded by Emil Alviar’s 28 and Gilmer Batistil’s 27 while Antonio Mendoza scored a 24 and Johnny Sison struggled with 19 markers.

Bryan Park scored a 28, Jun Fontanilla chipped in a 24, Paulino Ymbong Jr. put in a 22 and Ariel Abonal added a 21 for the Dragon Golfers.

The event is backed by Wilson, Rudy Project, Empire Golf, Megafiber, Pacsports, BCC, CJH Manor, Poro Point Thunderbird Resorts, Forest Lodge, Le Chef, Rizgolf, CJH Dev. Co., John Hay Coffee Services, University of Baguio, Alveo, North Luzon Expressway, The Residences at Brent, GPS Tracker and GMJ Constructors.