Team South rallies to win at Cebu Country Club

CEBU CITY – Team South leaned on its grizzled veterans as it seized the morning four-ball play with a come-from-behind 2 1/2-1 1/2 lead over Team North after in the The Duel 3 – North vs South showdown at the Cebu Country Club here Wedneday.

Already trailing after the North' Joenard Rates and Miguel Tabuena dominated Elmer Salvador and Jessie Balasabas, Tony Lascuna and Clyde Mondilla came back from a hole down by hitting two birdie putts in the last three holes and snatching a one-hole win over Angelo Que and Gerald Rosales to knot it at one match apiece.

Ageless Frankie Minoza then hit an uphill six-foot birdie putt also on the No. 18 as his partnership with local boy Charles Hong escaped with a draw against the youthful Northern duo of Carl Santos-Ocampo and James Ryan Lam.

Cassius Casas and Jhonnel Ababa then sealed the deal by quashing a late fightback put up by North's Benjie Magada and Randy Garalde to give the Jerome Delariarte-skippered squad the early one-match lead going into the afternoon foursome, which is being played as of posting time.

The 35-year-old Delariarte said it helps that he has seasoned players on his team.

"We're evenly matched but I believe we have a more experienced team," said Delariarte, a native of Dumangas, Iloilo.

After trailing by as much as two holes in the first six holes, Team South slowly but surely clawed its way back before Mondilla connected on a 12-foot putt on No. 16 that leveled their score.

It was the turn of Lascuna, the Phl Golf Tour Order of Merit leader, to shine as he made that match-sealing putt after watching Que and Rosales misfiring on their birdie putt attempts to the delight of the decent local crowd that watched from the clubhouse.

North's Artemio Murakami, captaining a team for the first time, for his part, said it's still too early to push the panic button and he still trusts his team to make a comeback.

"It would have been nice to go in the afternoon foursome with the lead," said Murakami. "

But I'm still happy with the way my guys played today. They showed that they're fighters."

The afternoon matches pit Jay South's Jay Bayron and Elmer Saban against the North's Jun Bernis and Michael Bibat, Marvin Dumandan and Mhark Fernando versus Mars Pucay and Angelo Que, Clyde Mondilla and Tony Lascuna against Miguel Tabuena and Joenard Rates and Charles Hong and Jhonnel Ababa versus Carl Santos-Ocampo and Edward Reyes.

Delariarte said they need to sustain their solid start to regain the title the South lost to the North last year in Alabang in this unique team match play, bankrolled by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., considered as the country's version of the Ryder Cup.

"We just need to keep playing like this and hope for the best in the final day," he said.

Aside from chief backer ICTSI, this three-day event is being supported by Nike Golf, Pacsports, Srixon, Callaway, Sharp, FootJoy, Mizuno, Callaway and Custom Clubmakers with Balls, ABS-CBN Sports+Action and Inquirer Golf as media partners.