Megafiber seals Fil Champs title romp by 16 pts

BAGUIO, Philippines – Megafiber turned in its lowest output in four days – a 101 – but still romped off with a 16-point victory over Camp John Hay to annex its maiden Fil Championship crown in the 64th San Miguel Fil-Am golf tournament at the Baguio Country Club here yesterday.

Rene Unson sustained his top-scoring ways and produced 29 Molave points while Mari Hechanova, Ben Jacinto and Bing Bunye backed him up with 27, 23 and 22 points, respectively, as Megafiber wound up with a 438 aggregate in the five-to-play, four-to-count format event.

Poch Hernandez didn’t count with a 21.

CJH, reeling from an earlier infraction, rallied with a final round 109 but could only finish with a 422 while Pugo Adventure found the short but tricky BCC layout not to its liking and stumbled with a 94 for a 416 for third.

Manila Southwoods shot a 105 and placed fourth with a 408 in the annual event backed by title sponsor San Miguel Corp. and presented by Toyota.

“Finally, we nailed the big one,” said Megafiber team manager Albert Garcia, whose wards opened with a 114, took control with a second day output of 120 before slowing down with a 103 Wednesday.

Nueva Ecija, meanwhile, completed its back-to-back title drive in the Am Championship as it closed out with a 110 for a 410 to beat Camp John Hay by 10 points at the nearby John Hay layout.

CJH ended up with a 400 after a 106 while Philippine Navy finished third with a 392 after a 103 followed by Dragon Golfers (106-380), Baguio City Golf Team-1 (95-343) and Forest Hills (78-341).

John Hay’s Rudy Lockey, meanwhile, copped the individual plum with a 112, seven points ahead of Navy’s Antonio Mendoza and Emil Alviar and Forest Hills’ Rodolfo Villa.

Clyde Cabreros shot 30 points, Fred Puckett carded a 29 and Lee Ki-seung and Park Jong-won each had 25 markers for CJH’s closing 109 and a 422 output. Puckett took the individual crown with a 127 aggregate, beating Pugo Adventure’s Goody Ignacio (119) and Unson (118).

Pugo Adventure, which put in impressive rounds of 114 and 109, wavered in the final two days with 99 and 94 while Southwoods also ran out of holes to salvage a podium finish.

Ed Montenegro, an anesthesiologist by profession, paced Pugo Adventure with 28 markers while Ignacio had 25, (Ret.) Gen. Eugene Martin made 22 and Jun Orbillo added 19 points.

Other backers of the event are 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 are sponsors.