Southwoods grabs lead as F Hills falters

MANILA, Philippines — Paolo Wong sustained his fierce form, Aidric Chan bounced back strong and Manila Southwoods surged past Forest Hills with a 155 to seize a four-point lead halfway through the Fil-Championship of the 68th Fil-Am Invitational golf tournament at Camp John Hay Golf Club in Baguio City yesterday.

Wong turned in a second straight four-under 65 card worth another 40 points, Chan atoned for his opening 25 with 39 points, three-under in stroke play, and Joo Hyung Kim and Carl Corpus also rebounded from their mediocre first round showing with a 39 and 37, respectively.

That netted the Carmona-based squad a sterling 11-under total to easily overhaul Forest Hills’ overnight seven-point lead and storm ahead by four with a 301 aggregate heading to the final 36 holes of the centerpiece event at the Baguio Country Club tomorrow and Saturday.

The Antipolo-based golfers, who sizzled in the opener with a 153 on Jude Eustaquio’s tournament-best 42 points, turned cold this time with an even 144, dropping to second at 297 with Royal Northwoods and Mizuno X-1R bowing out of the title race with 140-271 and 137-264, respectively.

“We’re proud with the way the boys played and it’s good we were able to gain some grounds,” said non-playing Southwoods coach Jerome Delariarte. “Hopefully, we can pull off the win.”

Wong, 16, more than made up for the absence of last year’s top scorer Yuto Katsuragawa as he put in another 40 points built around five birdies against a bogey on a course he calls home to likewise pace the race in the individual competition with 80 points.

He birdied the opening hole, dropped a stroke on No. 5 then birdied Nos. 6, 8, 16 and 18.

Chan, who had four pick-ups and didn’t count in the first round, recalled the form that earned him the NGAP’s Northern Regional championship recently, birdying four of the first six holes against a bogey and holding sway the rest of the way in a big 14-point rebound from his first round 25.

Kim matched that 39 points on a fiery windup spiked by an eagle on par-5 No. 16 to trail Wong by four in individual play while Corpus gunned down five birdies against four bogeys to preserve Southwoods’ amazing 11-under output in the day.

Despite its second round struggle, Forest Hills stayed in the hunt for a breakthrough Fil-Champ win with Eustaquio, Iñigo Raymundo and Dan Cruz vowing to come back strong from a one-day break and strike back at the BCC.

With Eustaquio failing to duplicate an impressive 42 with a 33 marred by one pick-up, Rocky Co emerged the top Forest Hills scorer with 39 points he highlighted with an eagle on the par-4 No. 8.

Marc Lu also struck back from a 31 with a 37 but Cruz slowed down with a 35 after a 37 and Raymundo failed to count with a 32 after an opening 40.

Luis Castro and Raymund Sangil fired identical 36 points while Richard Joson and Carlo Villaroman carded 35 and 33, respectively, for Royal Northwoods.

King Stehmeier shot 40 points but failed to draw solid support from the rest with Rodel Mangulabnan and Brixton Aw scoring identical 33s and Justin Tambunting adding a 31.

Meanwhile, Manila Southwoods pulled away in Am Championship as it pooled a 230 after a 119 for a 15-point lead over Razons of Guagua, which had a 215 after a 111, while Team Time Cargo Logistics scored a 104 for a 203 for third.

Fil-Am League of Golfers Chicago shot a flight best 89 for a 170 to tie Isabela Golf Club, which scored an 85, for the Am C lead. John Miranda led the Chicago golfers with 24 points while Egay Pagulayan scored 24 points for Isabela.

Chris Bautista shot 26 as Baguio Country Club pooled 78 points for a 155 for third.