Rates rakes it in, nips Kaske in playoff

LIPA City, Batangas, Philippines — He probably is the last player one would ever expect to sneak in a crowded final round leaderboard. But diminutive Joenard Rates proved that big things indeed come in small packages, rallying from six down in regulation and edging Finland’s Janne Kaske on the second playoff hole to snare the Philippine Golf Tour Asia’s Summit Point World 18 Challenge crown here yesterday.

That he did it on a course designed for the big hitters only showed the big fighting heart in the 5-foot-3 shotmaker whose length off the tee has often put him at a disadvantage against the tour’s long hitters, staying frustrated and winless the past four years after scoring a breakthrough at the short John Hay Golf Club in Baguio in 2014.

But he credited his hard-earned, come-from-behind win to hard work, determination and faith in himself that he could overcome tall odds and nail it again one day.

“It’s all hard work, resiliency and patience,” said Rates, who put on a fiery start of four birdies in the first six holes and overcame a bogey on the ninth with three birdies at the back for the day’s best pair of 33s four flights behind the championship group.

He tied Kaske at 12-under 276 after the Finnish now based in Bangkok outdueled third round leader Micah Shin and Elmer Salvador in a pressure-packed finale with a 70.

Rates and Kaske traded birdies on the first playoff hole but the Filipino bet finished off the Finnish on their third trip on the par-4 18th, two-putting for par then watching his rival miss the green and miss a playoff-extending par putt from 10 feet.

Rates earlier fought back from a 72 start with a 67, spiked by seven straight birdies from No. 12. He slowed down again Friday with a 71 and fell six shots off Shin but produced a near-solid closing round.