Japanese pair tames Southwoods

MANILA, Philippines — Shinichi Suzuki and Teruhisa Taguchi came away with 72 aggregate points at Legends as they edged the Justin Tambunting-Eric Escalona pair by one for the overall gross championship in the Southwoods Invitational yesterday.

The Suzuki-Taguchi and Tambunting-Escalona tandems slugged it out for two rounds, matching 82s in best ball at the Masters before the former combined in a closing 72-point output for a 154 that netted them the crown in Manila Southwoods’ premier member-guest tournament.

Tambunting and Escalona settled for a 71 for second at 153 while Allan Yap and Zachary Villaroman placed third with a 144 after a 66 (Legends) and 78 (Masters).

The battle for the overall net trophy likewise went down-to-the-wire with Melchor Bacsa and Alexander Festejo thwarting the Willy Tee Ten-Fritz Jerrold Lacap pair in the tiebreak. Both teams finished with 180s from identical 84s and 96s at Legends and Masters, respectively.

Richard Chua and Fernando Lim scored a 178 after an 84 and 94 and finished third in the event supported by Royal Caribbean/Baron Travel, hole-in-one sponsors Ogawa, Alpine Motors Philippines, Toyota Silang, Pagcor Casino Filipino and Klio International.

Bacsa and Festejo completed a twin kill as they ruled the Sponsors/Guests category, beating Eimie Hedeager and Sarah Cruz (80-96-176) by four. Anthony See and Christopher Ilagan placed third with a 171 after an 81 and a 90 in the four-day tournament.