Carl Corpus, Sean Ramos gain; Laure Duque nears title

MANILA, Philippines — Carl Corpus pulled off two clutch shots in regulation then hit another par on the third extra hole to nip Korean Ha Tae Won, 1-up after 21 holes, and join Sean Ramos and six others in the quarterfinal round of the Philippine Amateur Open Match Play Championships at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac yesterday.

Laure Duque, meanwhile, held off Laia Barro, 2&1, to notch her third straight point in the round-robin girls’ division while Rianne Malixi bounced back with a 4&2 romp over Kim Ga Yeon for two points.

Barro and Kim pooled identical 1.5 points while Bang Hee Yeon thwarted winless Kristine Fleetwood, 2&1, to post her first win in the novel format of the event among six players.

The top seeded Corpus actually battled back from two holes down but toughened up and won two of the last three, including a crucial par on the 18th to extend the match.

They matched pars on their return trip to Nos. 1 and 2 but Corpus, who nipped Ramos in the playoff to bag the low medal honors after the 36-hole stroke play elims Tuesday, kept his composure and made another par on the third then watched Ha miss his own bid to snatch victory for a Last 8 clash with Kristoffer Arevalo.

The ninth ranked Arevalo turned back No. 8 Don Petil, 3&1.

Ramos broke off a tight duel with a birdie on No. 12, went 2-up with a par on the 14th and built a three-hole cushion with another par on No. 15 then matched Seo Dong Bin’s par on the par-5 16th to seal a quarters face-off with No. 7 Paolo Barro, who eased out No. 10 Zachary Castro.

No. 13 Kim Tae Soo upended fourth ranked Perry Bucay, 1-up, after 19 holes to set up a clash with No. 12 Paolo Wong, who edged No. 5 Masaichi Otake, 1-up.

Leandro Bagtas toppled Josh Jorge, 5&3, in the other half of the draw to arrange an encounter with No. 11 Jacob Rolida, who trounced sixth ranked Dan Cruz, 4&3, to keep his title hopes in the week-long tournament conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and backed by Cignal and Metro Pacific.