GEN. TRIAS, Cavite—Antonio Lascuña has been arduously working on his putting for the last month. Friday, he put it to good use.
Under siege from a hard-finishing Marvin Dumandan all day, Lascuña knocked down clutch par putts on the last two holes to salvage a 1-under-par 71 and win the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Classic by one stroke with a 281 total over three courses.
Dumandan shot a course record-tying 8-under 64 at the Aoki layout but fell short by one even as Angelo Que fired a 67 to catch Charles Hong and Elmer Salvador for third at 287. Hong fired a 73 and Salvador a 74.
“I knew that Marvin got to within one after I holed out on No. 16,” said Lascuña, who rued poor putting in the Splendido and Camp John Hay legs. “I told myself that pars in the final two holes can do it.”
Lascuña drained a delicate 12-footer on the 17th and an 8-footer on the final hole to triumph for the first time in close to seven months and end weeks of frustration that started at Splendido in Tagaytay.
Frankie Miñoza fired a 70 for 291 and fellow former Philippine Open champion Rick Gibson of Canada carded a 73 to finish another shot back in the event backed by Nike Golf, Custom Clubmakers, Titleist, Cleveland, Pacsports, Srixon, Callaway, Sharp and FootJoy and media partners Balls TV and ABS-CBN.
Jonel Ababa, Jay Bayron and Nilo Salahog rounded out the top 10 after tying at 294 with a 72, 73 and 74, respectively, in the event that played its first two rounds at the Norman and Faldo courses.
Dumandan eagled the par-15th and then birdied the next hole and the 72nd.
“He is really a veteran,” Dumandan said of Lascuña in Filipino. “He never gets rattled. It was a good tournament for me, a springboard to get back into contention seriously for the rest of the year.”
Lascuña, who picked up P500,000 from the P3-million prize pot, was the only player to break par in four rounds. He shot a 71 at the difficult Faldo layout, took the lead with a 69 at Norman and built a three-shot edge with a 70 at Aoki in the third round.