Asistio helps Southwoods to PAL victory

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Pro-bound Antonio “Tonton” Asistio fired an eagle-aided two-under-par 70 worth 38 points to anchor Manila Southwoods to a two-point victory over holders Orchard in a dramatic finish to the 68th Philippine Airlines Men’s Interclub championship.

Rewarding his team for its trust in designating him as anchor, Asistio came through with two birdies and a decisive eagle in the last 10 holes at the Cebu Country Club to fuel title-hungry Southwoods’ drive back to the top after a 10-year drought.

Together with the 36 of Justin Quiban and the 27s of skipper Thirdy Escaño and Ryu Ken Yasuma, Southwoods submitted 128 for the day and pooled a winning four-round haul of 493 points. Theodore Pascual’s 26 didn’t count.

Orchard wound up with a second-best 491 points to abdicate the throne. Orchard’s fifth player Aian Arcilla, his bid dampened by six bogeys in the back nine, managed only 27 points, after Raymund Sangil, Kristoffer Arevalo and Jan Philippe de Claro turned in 34, 33, and 33, in that order.

 “It was very close and I think our fielding (strategy) worked. I foresaw that it would go down the line and in such situation, I wouldn’t have a better person than Tonton Asistio to be my last man,” said Escaño of Asistio, who is enjoying a new lease on life after surviving a slay attempt three years ago.

Southwoods copped its first title in a decade and third overall counting its 1999 conquest.

“This is very sweet for us because this is not the original lineup. We had four other kids initially but they didn’t have PPA (PAL Points Average) so we weren’t allowed to field them,” he added.

Host club Cebu CC took third place honors with 484. Montito Garcia shot a team-high 35 which was complemented by the 31 of Eric Deen and Marko Sarmiento and the 29 of Gen Nagai. Wack Wack, the leader after two rounds, scrambled with a closing 123 built around Tommy Manotoc (35), Ernesto Marcelo (33), Gabriel Manotoc (31), and John Edward Gobing (24), for a 480 tally and fourth place.

Well into his round, Asistio insisted on getting updated by team officials as to how Southwoods was standing in the race.

“I was only told to go for birdies and par but I wanted to know (the exact standing) so I would know what I had to do,” said Asistio.

 “Upon learning we were four (points) down going to the last five holes, I told myself I had to finish at one or two-under to at least give us a chance,”  said Asistio, who also gave himself a fitting send-off present before moving back to the pros next month.

Asistio bogeyed two of the first eight holes before unleashing his fiery windup.

He washed away the bogey mishaps with birdies on Nos. 9 and 11 and then, turning things around, eagled the par-5 No. 16, where he drove it to 156 yards and sank a four-footer, to go two-under.

He got into trouble when he pulled his drive to the woods to the left of 17th but bailed out by laying it up with a 4-Iron to the front of the green, pitching and holing a four-foot par-saving putt.

“Those two holes were the ones that did it,” said Asistio, who was also part of the Southwoods team that last won the Interclub in 2005.

Alabang CC ran away with Founders title after assembling 465 points. John Baron Garcia, Santiago Lorenzo, and Rocco Sumabat each signed in with 28 while Miguel Shah added 26 in Alabang’s final-day output of 110 points en route to beating Alta Vista by 16 markers.

Socal Red Hawk (420 points) romped off with the Sportswriters plum while Skywest Golf Team (284) ruled the Friendship division.

One Mega, People Asia, Hotel H20, Travelife, Boeing International Corp., Business Mirror and GE Aviation sponsored the PAL Interclub Seniors and Regular Men’s events. Other backers included Manila Bulletin, Mareco Broadcasting Network (Crossover), Whealth Inc., Aerospace, Uniglobe Travelware Co. Inc., Tanduay Distillers and Intercontinental Manila.