Pinay golfers virtual champs in Santi Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Princess Superal and Pauline del Rosario sizzled with identical four-under 67s as the Philippines all but wrapped up its first-ever Santi Cup crown with a solid 134, moving 15 shots clear of arch rival Thailand in the 54th South East Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship in Brunei late Wednesday.

So solid was the Phl’s third round showing that Miya Legaspi’s two-under 69, which can easily lead any team, didn’t count in the three-to-play, two-to-count format 72-hole event dominated by the Thais the last five years.

This time, the Filipinas made sure there won’t be any Thai repeat as they pooled a 54-hole total of 20-under 406 at the par-71 Empire Hotel and Country Club course for a huge 15-point lead over the five-time champions, who settled for a second 141 for a 421.

Singapore stood eight shots farther back at 429 after another 144 while Malaysia fumbled with a 146 for a 438 followed by Indonesia (150-443) and Brunei (175-514).

“Princess finally hit her stride and showed her potential while Pauline and Miya remained as steady as ever. Only a major disaster could stop them from finally nailing the elusive Santi Cup win,” said national team coach Bong Lopez, also the man at the helm of Team ICTSI.

Superal, the reigning US Girls Juniors champion who groped for form to finish 11th in the recent Asian Games where the Phl also wound up fifth, dished out a superb iron game to set up birdie chances inside four feet, on Nos. 8, 9, 10, 12 and 17. She, however, missed finishing with a flourish after failing to rescue a par off the bunker on the 18th.

Del Rosario also hit five birdies, including a tap-in on No. 11 and from 16 feet on the 16th, but like her ICTSI teammate Superal, she stumbled with one bogey when she hit an errant drive on the 17th, punched out from under the woods and flubbed a six-footer for par.