San Miguel-NCC rules Fil-Am golf

BAGUIO—Eddie Bagtas and Rupert Zaragosa shot identical 39 points to power San Miguel Corp.-Northern Cement to a 148 four-point victory over Manila Southwoods in the Fil Championship of the Fil-Am Golf Invitational at Camp John Hay course here Saturday.

The SMC-NC aces were four points down against the defending champion Southwoods after nine holes before Bagtas, a former pro, and Zaragosa, a many-time national junior champion, anchored the team’s stirring rally with those three-under par cards in stroke play as they ruled the 66th staging of the annual event presented by Toyota.

Jelbert Gamolo added a 36 while Lanz Uy completed the team’s final output in the five-to-play, four-to-count format event with a 34. They wound up with a 543, counting their 122 and 130 at the nearby Baguio Country Club course and a 143 at John Hay Friday that overhauled a three-point deficit.

“It was a successful year for us because we also won the Seniors championship,” said SMC-NC skipper Bobby Iñigo, referring to their seniors team victory last week.

Kristoffer Arevalo fired one of the day’s two best 40 points, while Yuto Katsuragawa and Ryan Monsalve backed him up with a 37 and 35, respectively. But last year’s individual winner Justin Quiban struggled with a 32 as Southwoods settled for a 144 and 539.