Bernis, Murakami forge title showdown

Jun Bernis and Artemio Murakami hacked out contrasting victories on a wet, damp day at Villamor yesterday, beating Marvin Dumandan and Laurence Negrido, respectively, and arranging a 36-hole duel for this year’s Philippine Amateur Golf Championship crown.

Bernis upended the top seed Dumandan with a solid game at the backside, turning a close contest into a rout, 3 & 2, while Murakami battled back from two-holes down after nine holes to snatch a 2 & 1 victory over the 16-year-old Negrido in the other semis duel.

That set up an interesting clash between a player trying to sweep the country’s two prestigious amateur crowns, the first being the DHL Amateur Open title Bernis won early this year, and the other one seeking a second RP amateur crown in five years.

Both, however, refused to predict the outcome of the marathon contest starting at 7:10 a.m. today.

"Mahirap magsalita, basta magaling si Temyong (Murakami)," said Bernis, now going great guns and enjoying top form after adjusting his grip upon the advice of sportsman Tommy Manotoc.

"Actually, mga tatlong araw ko pa lang ina-adjust ang grip ko, medyo sinara ko, kaya ayun, consistent na ang palo ko. Malaki talaga ang pasasalamat ko ke Sir Tommy," added Bernis.

All-square with Dumandan after 9 holes, the long-hitting Cangolf bet birdied the first two holes at the back set up by superb wedge shots to go 2-up, a lead he preserved up to the 16th when Dumandan failed to rescue a par from a missed-green and yielded the hole, and the match.

Murakami, on the other hand, lost his putting touch early and felt he was about to lose the game altogether to a player he described as his younger version after falling two holes down in the front. But the 1999 winner at Wack Wack never got discouraged and fought back to complete the victory and a shot for a second crown and, more importantly, a much-deserved spot in the national team.

"Parang ang sarili ko noon ang nakita ko kay Laurence. Matibay ang loob at magaling sa putting," said Murakami, whose victory in 1999, however, didn’t merit him a spot in the RP squad.

"Actually, medyo tagilid na nga ako sa tingin ko after 9 holes, kaya sabi ko kung di pa ako makakuha sa No. 10, delikado na talaga," added Murakami.

He did not only win Nos. 10 and 11, to draw level, but the testy par-3 No. 12 as well.

The last, which gave him the lead for good, was a lucky shot from the right bunker which he blasted, the ball landing some eight feet away from the pin before rolling and disappearing into the cup.

That was a kind of shot enough to break the heart of a teener as the 16-year-old Negrido, although he managed to salvage three pars on the next three holes, failed to rescue a par from the bunker on No. 16, the ball rolling past the green for bogey, enabling Murakami, who also bogeyed the hole, to stay on top.

One-up and all-pumped up, Murakami came through with a near-perfect wedge shot on the par 3 No. 17 as the ball landed just a foot off the cup for a tap-in birdie and into the final of the event staged by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

"Actually, hindi naman maganda ang palo ko ngayon. In fact, wala nga akong laro since I was supposed to caddie for Frankie Miñoza," said Murakami, who has been in charge of Miñoza’s bag in the top Filipino pro’s last few tournaments in Japan. "Ang lumalaban lang sa akin ay ang fighting spirit ko."

Murakami hopes to settle an old score with Bernis in their duel today.

"Madalas nya akong talunin sa laban naming dito nung araw. Kayang-kaya niya ako nun kasi nga bata pa ako," said Murakami, now 20 and full of promise.