ILOILO CITY – Rupert Zaragosa finally broke through in big fashion, beating multi-titled Tony Lascuña by 9 despite a fumbling finish 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 settle for a 71 that ruined what had been a fine start of two frontside birdies.
“There was pressure but I handled it in the good way – played it short and safe,” said Zaragosa, who 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.
But his rivals also floundered at the challenging closing holes of the par-70 layout as 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.
The recent The Country Club Invitational champion wound up with a 73 for third at 277 while Jhonnel Ababa charged home with a 65 and Sean Ramos fired a 67 to share fourth place at 278.
Lascuña took home another P265,500 prize while van der Valk pocketed P153,000 in the second leg of this year’s circuit put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Jerson Balasabas matched Zaragosa’s record-setting 63 Friday with his own version of a seven-under card he highlighted with an eagle on the par-5 14th as the former Philippine Masters champion seized solo sixth at 279.
Jay Bayron matched par 70 for seventh at 280 while Albin Engino and Richard Sinfuego tied for eighth at 281 after a pair of 71s and Michael Bibat ended up 10th with a 282 after a 73.
His runaway triumph matched Ira Alido’s nine-shot romp in scoring his own Philippine Golf Tour breakthrough at Riviera-Langer in bubble setup in 2020.
Armed with a near-insurmountable eight-stroke lead after 54 holes after a course-record setting 63 Friday, Zaragosa even 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.
