Monsalve-Uy coasts to 8-shot romp

MANILA, Philippines — Ryan Monsalve and Lanz Uy stood out in the deciding foursomes, exploding with an early birdie-binge on their way to a four-under 64 and a whopping eight-shot victory over Jed Dy and Mikha Fortuna in the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club yesterday.

Bracing for a wild finish after moving past first round leader Sean Ramos and Gabby Macalaguim by one following the aggregate play Saturday, Monsalve and Uy played as one in the alternate shot format, pulling away with three birdies in the first four holes then rebounding from a bogey on No. 5 with three more birdies against another bogey at the back for a 34-30 card.

Counting their opening 62 and a second round 141, Monsalve and Uy finished with a 267, beating Dy and Fortuna, who carded a 69 for a 275, by eight and besting Bianca Pagdanganan and Dy’s seven-shot win in last year’s staging of the annual event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

“He just played relaxed golf,” said Uy of his partner, who anchored their big second-round charge with a 66 at the short but tight par-68 layout.

“Although the course is short, we were careful with our shots because it’s easy to get into trouble since the fairways are tight and the roughs are thick. We actually played some holes short so we could set up good approach shots,” said Monsalve.

Ramos and Macalaguim, who took charge with a 61 in Friday’s opening four-ball, lost in the face of Monsalve and Uy’s hot start and bombed out with a frontside 41. They failed to recover at the back and finished with a 75 to drop to joint third at 279 with the Ivan Monsalve-Aldo Barro pair, which shot a 71.

Luigi Guerrero and Dan Cruz also scored a 71 to end up tied for fifth at 280 with the Josh Jorge-Santino Laurel tandem, which groped for a 74, while Santino Diokno and Miguel Roque carded a 72 for seventh at 283 in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and held as part of the PLDT National Amateur Golf Tour and backed by Cignal and Metro Pacific Investments.