San Miguel wrests Filipino-American Seniors lead

BAGUIO, Philippines – Former pro Eddie Bagtas fired 37 points as San Miguel-Northern Cement pooled a tournament-best 137 to grab a two-point lead over defending champion Pugo Adventure after three rounds of the Seniors Fil Championship of the Fil-Am Golf Invitational at the Camp John Hay Golf Club here yesterday.

Bagtas, who struggled at the short but tougher Baguio Country Club in the first two rounds, flaunted his shotmaking skills on a longer layout, hitting five birdies against two bogeys and one pick-up and leading San Miguel’s charge with that 37 equivalent to a one-under card in stroke play.

With Chito Laureta shooting a 35 and Rudy Amata and Tommy Manotoc backing them up with 33 and 32 points, respectively, San Miguel assembled a 137 for a 54-hole aggregate of 342 heading to the final round, also at John Hay, of the 66th staging of the annual event presented by Toyota.

Pugo Adventure, which battled from four points down in the final round to edge 2013 champion Megafiber by two last year, stood two points behind with a 340 as Goodie Ignacio matched Bagtas’ 37 markers and Fred Puckett, an eight-time individual titlist, added a 34 while Ed Montenegro and Douglas Puckett chipped in 30 and 28 points, respectively.

Manila Southwoods, which took charge in the second day at BCC, slowed down with a 125 and dropped to third at 339 as Edmund Yee and Bong Sison carded identical 33s, Charlie Kim scored a 30 and Herminio Maravilla and Cipriano Abdon tossed in 29 apiece, one of which counted for the team.

With just three points separating the top three teams, a fierce final round battle is seen although San Miguel is tipped to fend off its rivals with its solid crew. Bagtas also leads the individual competition with 94 points, one ahead of Ignacio and Yee.

“The plan is to really pour it all out in the third and fourth rounds because of Eddie (Bagtas) and Tommy (Manotoc),” said team captain Bobby Iñigo.

Tony Olives matched par 69 for 36 points as Megafiber moved up to fourth with a 327, five points adrift, while former three-peat champion and first round leader Camp John Hay struggled on its turf and settled for a 119 for a 325.