INQUIRER Sports

ANTIPOLO?Eddie Bagtas fired a three-over-par 75 and amateur partner Richard Kim shot a 74 as they came from three strokes down to win the first PGAP I-Fit Pro-Am by two strokes at Valley South here Tuesday.

Kim, a member at Valley and one of Bagtas? finest students, bailed out their partnership with a sizzling back nine where he had three birdies against a bogey to make up for a 40 coming out.

The duo totaled 228 counting the 79 they scored in alternate shot play on Monday, overtaking the Edgar Ababa-Paul Echavez team to win the P75,000 top purse put up by the PGAP and its president, Jun Bustamante.

The event, which is being eyed as a revival of the national pro-am championship which Konica used to host, was also supported by Valley president Bonifacio Sumbilla and GM Bong Vilchez.

Ababa-Echavez faltered coming home, with Ababa matching his 39 on the front nine and Echavez ballooning to a 40 after a level par 36 at the turn. The leader after the first round, Ababa-Echavez settled for the P40,000 runner-up purse.

Juanito Pagunsan and partner Ricky delos Santos, the caddy master at Pagunsan?s home course, Aguinaldo, finished third with a 233 tally after amassing identical 78s.

Bagtas had six bogeys and only a birdie on each nine but found the needed lift for the come-from-behind victory with Kim and Echavez cooling off on their homeward trip.

Ernie Rellon-Jan Tambogon had a 234 and finished fifth, three ahead of the Danny Fortusa-Kenneth Kano duo.