Carlos, Superal share W Express Am honors

CANLUBANG, Philippines – Jobim Carlos held off a late charging Justin Quiban to annex the men’s title with a closing 71 while Princess Superal ran away with the women’s crown with a bogey-free four-under 68 in the 21st W Express RVF Cup Amateur Golf Championship at Cangolf’s North Course here yesterday.

Carlos yielded three strokes in the last four holes but had built enough cushion to thwart Quiban’s rally to nail the win on a four-under 284 total in a follow-up to his national doubles win last December and national stroke play feat last month. He plays his last amateur tournament in the Interclub next week as spearhead of the Canlubang team before joining the pro tour next month.

Fighting back from six shots down to seize a one-stroke lead over Yuto Katsuragawa in the third round, Carlos padded his lead to three with a 37 at the turn as the Japanese fumbled with a 39. Four off the pace, Quiban could only match Carlos’ frontside score, fell by five with a bogey on No. 15 but earned a two-shot swing on the par-3 No. 15 before birdying the last hole for a 69 for a 286.

Katsuragawa failed to recover and closed out with a 36 for a 75 and dropped to third at 289 while first day leader Luis Castro matched par 72 to salvage fourth at 293 followed by Carl Corpus, who fired a 71 for a 297, and Aidric Chan, who shot a 70 to tie Korean Tom Kim, who carded a 73, at 299.

The event is sponsored by W Express, conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and held in honor of the late golf patron Rod Feliciano.

Superal, meanwhile, scored an expected wire-to-wire romp as The Country Club ace again proved to be a cut above the rest, shooting four bogeys in windy condition for a 35-33 finish and a 285, a whopping 12-shot victory over TCC teammate Bernice Olivarez-Ilas, who had a 297 after a 73.

“I hit the ball well and there was no pressure, making it a lot easier to hole in the putts,” said the 19-year-old Superal, who stretched her amazing win run to seven, counting her four wins abroad to end the 2015 season and her triumphs in the Hong Kong Ladies Amateur Open and the Philippine Ladies Open last month.

Fil-Japanese Yuka Saso rallied with a 70 to tie Harmie Constantino, who hobbled with a 75, for third at 298 while Sam Martirez wound up fifth at 306 after a 76 and Sofia Legaspi placed sixth at 307 after a 71 followed by Mikha Fortuna (74-308), Kayla Nocum (75-309), Korean Hwang Min Jeong (78-311) and Indonesian Rivani Sihotang (79-317) in the event backed by the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart, PLDT and Metro Pacific Investment Corp. and Cangolf, which served as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.