Zaragosa cruises to 9-shot win in Iloilo

ILOILO, Philippines — Rupert Zaragosa finally broke through in grand fashion, beating multi-titled Tony Lascuña by nine after a shaky 71 and nailing his first championship in the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge presented by MORE Power at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

He was actually on course to posting a bigger winning margin but he bogeyed the last three holes to ruin what had been a fine start of two frontside birdies. Still, his triumph was so unlike in last week’s furious battle at Marapara where at least six aces figured in a heated finish until Ira Alido completed his stirring comeback from five shots down to nip Lascuña by one.

“I thank the Lord for finally giving me this win that I’ve been chasing for a long time,” said Zaragosa, whose previous best finish was joint second in a losing playoff stand against four others in the PGT Asia Pradera Verde leg ruled by Clyde Mondilla in 2020.

Armed with a near-insurmountable eight-stroke lead after 54 holes after a course-record setting 63 Friday, Zaragosa pulled away with birdies on Nos. 4 and 6. But after birdying No. 14 for the fourth straight day and regaining the stroke he dropped on the previous hole, he stumbled at the finish.

Zaragosa pooled a 13-under 267 that included fiery rounds of 65-68-63, leading to his dominant title run worth P405,000 that more doubled his earnings in the past four years.

Lascuña yielded two strokes on No. 15 and dropped another shot on the next. But his 70 and a 276 enabled him to snatch runner-up honors from Guido Van der Valk, whose double bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 likewise marred his closing stint.