February 22, 2014

Zaragosa pips Saldaña with 2 late birds

CANLUBANG, Laguna-Rupert Zaragosa won his first WExpress-DHL RVF Amateur Golf championship Friday, and the way he carved it out made it more memorable.

Two down at the start of the day and failing to gain headway for most of the final round, Zaragosa birdied his final two holes to cap a five-under-par 67 and win by two over Andres Saldaña in the event presented by the MVP Sports Foundation at Canlubang’s North course.

Saldaña, the leader after each of the first three rounds, closed out with a 71 after finishing par-bogey and failing to keep in step with the swashbuckling finish of Zaragosa, who tallied a nine-under 279 over the heavily wooded layout.

Still one-down going to the last two holes, Zaragosa went gung-ho, going for the green in two on the par-5 17th and then attacking the flag at the last despite hitting his approach from thick rough and drawing a flier of a lie.

From 267 yards out, Zaragosa hit a 3-wood that landed pin-high on the left side of the 17th green and then played a gorgeous pitch to within gimme distance to pull level for the first time on a cool, windy day.

And after both hooked their tee shots on the 18th, Saldaña tried hitting out of a bare lie, also flying his approach past the cup and almost finding the bunker behind the green.

The 19-year-old, who turns pro next month, putted from the bunker’s lip and gave Zaragosa a good read on the speed.

“I saw his (Saldaña’s) putt and got a good read on the speed,” Zaragosa said. “And even with a right-to-left break of more than a pin, I knew I had a chance of making the putt.”

“It’s cool. I’m cool,” Saldaña told the Inquirer, trying to hide his dejection as many in the good-sized gallery that followed the final flight already conceded a playoff. “He (Zaragosa) played very well. He won the tournament.”

Saldaña’s first putt zipped seven feet past the hole. He needed two more putts, yielding the victory to Zaragosa by two.

Magno Arancon finished third, 10 shots off the pace, after closing out with a 76, while Korean Park Min-ung fired a 69 to earn a fourth-place tie with Leonard Lofranco at 292. Lofranco shot a 71.

The event was part of the PLDT Group Amateur Tour and backed by Pancake House, Golf Depot and Pacsports.

Also making the winner’s circle with Zaragosa was Pauleen del Rosario, who fired a 72 for an eight-shot victory over Claire Amelia Legaspi. Legaspi also closed out with a 72.

Musong Castillo