RP golfers languish at 31st in World Am

SOUTH AUSTRALIA – The Philippines blew a four-under card after nine holes and settled for an even par 144 at the Grange Golf Club as it hardly moved up to 31st place after three rounds of the Eisenhower Cup paced by Scotland in Adelaide here yesterday.

Rufino Bayron made a double bogey and a bogey against two birdies in a rollercoaster game in the closing holes at the front and scrambled for a one-under 71 while Jerson Balasabas double bogeyed No. 7 and counted for the second straight day with a one-over 73 for RP’s 144 and a 54-hole aggregate of 12-over 446.

That hardly moved the Philippines from its previous standing at 35th, squandering the chance to mount a comeback after Bayron and Balasabas fired two under par cards each after nine holes at the back, the frontside of their game.

In that stretch, the RP bets, backed here by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Airlines, Stradcom Corp., Dynamic Sports and LORO Shirts and the National Golf Association of the Phils., quickly moved up to joint 22nd and looked headed for an explosive finish and a spot in the top 20.

But Balasabas, playing out of Calatagan, fumbled with two bogeys in the first three holes at the front, bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 No. 7 only to drop two strokes on the par-4 No. 7 for that 73.

Bayron, the top ICTSI-backed shotmaker who a pro tournament back home recently, sputtered with a double bogey on No. 2, birdied the next, bogeyed No. 4 but rammed in an eight foot birdie putt on the fifth before parring the rest for that 71.

Ferdie Aunzo, the reigning national champion, parred his first seven holes at the back but bogeyed the last two then mixed two birdies with two bogeys at the front for a 74 and didn’t count.

Scotland, with Wallace Booth firing a 69, sustained its pace and assembled a four-under 140 to seize a four-shot lead at 413 as erstwhile joint leader the United States groped for form and carded a 144 and slid to second at 417. Sweden shot a five-under 139 and took third place at 421.