Carlos bags PGTA Riviera title

SILANG, Cavite, Philippines — One month after scoring a breakthrough via team championship, Jobim Carlos turned in a kind of finish that wins big-time individual championships, closing out with a four-under 67 and beating multi-titled Tony Lascuña by two for the Philippine Golf Tour Asia’s ICTSI Riviera Classic crown here yesterday.

While his rivals came out cold after two weather delays and fumbled at the demanding backside of the Langer layout, Carlos emerged from the long break fiercer and hotter, birdying three of the last six holes inside five feet and completing his fightback from three down and into a cherished victory that slipped off his hands on a playoff loss to Clyde Mondilla at Manila Masters in Eastridge in his rookie season two years ago.

The former amateur hotshot then toiled in a winless second year campaign before teaming up with DJ Padilla to nail the Delimondo Pro-am championship at Splendido last month. He actually had a title crack at the Philippine Masters which he co-led after three rounds at Villamor last week but lost his focus on the final day and wound up joint third with Lascuña.

“Today (yesterday), I made sure to stay focused unlike last week when I opted to instead check on my rivals’ games and saw my game break down,” said Carlos, who totaled a five-under 279 and banked his first huge paycheck worth $17,500. “But now I set my mind to score on every hole and got the job done.”

The delay likewise worked to his advantage.

“It really worked (delay) as I was able to relax and regain my bearing and confidence,” said Carlos, who fell by three behind Michael Bibat when play was first stopped because of heavy rains after nine holes and still stood two shots off when it was halted the second time after 11 holes due to threats of lightning.

Lascuña, who tied Bibat for the lead twice midway through the final round, failed to match Carlos’ scorching windup. He bogeyed two of the last seven and ended up second at 281 after a 70. He received $11,500.

Englishman Grant Jackson came out of nowhere to snatch third place on a bogey-free 67, spiked by four birdies at the back, for a 282 worth $7,000 as third round leader Damien Jordan of Australia failed to sustain his charge and skied to a 79 to tumble to joint seventh.