Salvador still Riviera titlist by 2 strokes
ELMER Salvador did just enough yesterday to repeat as ICTSI Riviera Classic champion, shooting a level par 71 to hold off a hard-charging Miguel Tabuena and two others at the challenging Langer layout in Silang, Cavite.
The soft-spoken Salvador gunned down three birdies against the same number of bogeys, his last coming on the 14th before closing out with four straight pars to put everyone away with a 276 tally, eight-under at the wind-swept layout.
Tabuena cracked par for the second straight day, his 66 lifting him into a tie with Rufino Bayron and Antonio Lascuña for second at 278 with Clyde Mondilla shooting a 73 for 281.
The 20-year-old Tabuena actually came within a shot off the lead after that Salvador bogey on No. 14 but a bogey on the 17th gave the eventual champion the buffer he needed going into the tough 18th hole.
Tabuena drained all his six birdies in the first 11 holes. Bayron finished with a 67 and Lascuña a 68.
Lascuña, the reigning three-time Order of Merit winner, fell short yet again after dropping two straight shots from No. 11. He birdied the 15th and 17th to join Bayron and Tabuena.
Mondilla, the joint second-round leader, was the last player to finish with an under-par card, shooting a 67 to be at 281 with Jay Bayron rallying with a 67 for 284.
