South grabs 5-3 lead in The Duel 3 opener

MANILA, Philippines — The South upheld its status as heavy favorite by zooming to a 5-3 lead Wednesday after the first day of action of The Duel 3–North vs South, a Ryder Cup-style event featuring the best pros in the land at Cebu Country Club.

Jonel Ababa and Charles Hong anchored the South’s mighty finish with a 5 and 3 win over Carl Santos-Ocampo and Edward Reyes as the Southerners open up today’s action with momentum on their side.

“It’s a good cushion but not a safe lead,” said South skipper Jerome Delariarte.

The North kept the deficit to a manageable level after Miguel Tabuena and Jun Rates salvaged a tie with Antonio Lascuña and Clyde Mondilla with a birdie on the 18th hole in the penultimate foursomes match.

Lascuña, joint second placer in the Philippine Open just last Sunday, and Mondilla birdied two of the final three holes in the best-ball format in the morning to pound out a 1-up win over the Angelo Que-Gerald Rosales tandem.

Tabuena-Rates remained undefeated with that scrambling draw, having scored a lopsided 4 and 3 decision of Elmer Salvador and The Duel rookie Jessie Balasabas in the morning.

Today, the foursomes will be played in the morning and the best-ball in the afternoon, and skippers from both squads are expected to tinker with their respective lineups a little.

The deciding singles—12 matches—will be played tomorrow, with the North hoping for a repeat of its final day magic at Alabang last year to snatch the crown away from the favored South.

Ababa, the former National Caddies Open titlist, actually eked out two victories yesterday, earlier joining hands with Cassius Casas in scoring a 2 and 1 win over Randy Garalde-Benjie Magada.

Hong, who learned the game at the tree-lined layout, earlier teamed up with  the heralded Frankie Miñoza to halve their match with Santos-Ocampo and Ryan Lam. Musong R. Castillo