Zaragosa, Sarines show way with 74s

LAUREL, Batangas, Philippines — Precious Zaragosa and Mona Sarines surged to the top of the leaderboard in the girls’ 11-14 category in the Junior Philippine Golf Tour, carding two-over 74s for a five-stroke lead at the Splendido Taal Golf Club here Tuesday.

Zaragosa’s hot round included a hole-in-one on No. 3 while Sarines finished strong with two birdies in the last three holes at the front as the pair led Lisa Sarines in one of the three age categories in the Luzon Series I of the 14-leg circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

“I was really surprised,” said Zaragosa, who used a Mizuno pitching wedge and Titleist No. 2 ball to ace the 100-yard hole. “But I became nervous after that and made a double bogey and bogey in the next two holes.”

Like most of the 60 participants, Zaragosa intends to compete in all 14 legs of the JPGT, which will culminate in the Match Play Championship in October.

For her part, Mona Sarines acknowledged the need to improve on her approach shots.

Levonne Talion and Aerin Chua carded 83 and 87, respectively, while Althea Bañez and Kendra Garingalao struggled with 91 and 93, respectively.