Southwoods seizes front

Jose Emmanuel Sajulga of Manila Southwoods during the PAL Interclub Golf Tournament in Mimosa Golf and Country Club, Clark Pampanga.
INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga—Getting another superlative outing from what many see as its second unit, Manila Southwoods Friday put itself in prime position to achieve a first in its long PAL Interclub participation.

Jets Sajulga shot a one-under-par 71 for 37 points and fellow teenager Ira Alido returned an even 72 for 36 points to anchor the Carmona-based squad to a third-round 136 and a one-point lead over Canlubang.

More importantly, Southwoods inched closer to a first-ever repeat in the Championship division of the tournament that closes out today at the tougher Mountain View layout.

Ryan Monsalve chipped in 32 points and Vince Lauron added 31 at Mimosa’s Acacia and Lake View nines here as Southwoods pooled 411 over three days under the five-to-play four-to-count format that rewards an eagle 4 points, a birdie 3 points, a par 2 and a bogey 1.

Rupert Zaragosa fired 38 points, Luigi Castro and Carlo Villaroman scored 33s and Marco Olives carded 31 as Canlubang returned 135 for a 410 total.

The centerpiece division has been reduced to a two-sided race with third-running Luisita 17 points back despite a day-best 139.

The Luisitans got a tournament-best 40 points from Dan Cruz and 34s from Luis Guerrero and Korean Tom Kim, with either 31s of senior player Jingy Tuason and Basti Lorenzo rounding out scoring for a 394 total.

“Canlubang will always be a tough team to contend with,” said Thirdy Escaño, four-time champion Southwoods’ non-playing captain.

National pool member Justin Quiban and Yuto Katsuragawa will lead Southwoods, while Canlubang, which is seeking to complete a sweet double in its return to the regular men’s tournament, will be parading pro-bound Jobim Carlos.