Arbole finally breaks through

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL  Philippines  – Fourteen years of waiting, one disastrous hole and a furious comeback later, Art Arbole finally had the moment he had chased for most of his professional career.

And when it finally came, it came with the kind of drama worthy of a long-awaited breakthrough.

Arbole blew a one-stroke lead with an errant drive on the fourth hole, plunged two shots behind Jhonnel Ababa after a disastrous 7, then watched several proven winners close in as the pressure mounted in the ICTSI Negros Occidental Classic at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club here Thursday.

Instead of folding, however, the journeyman found another gear. He answered the setback with a remarkable run of birdies, steadied himself and overcame a late miscue to fire a gritty 70 – finally securing the championship he had waited 14 years to win with a gutsy 21-foot par-saving putt on the 18th