GJ KATIGBAK scored a 19th hole victory over third-ranked Ryan Monsalve yesterday for the biggest reversal thus far in the KO stages of the Philippine Amateur Open match play championship at Orchard in Dasmariñas, Cavite.
Japan’s Takuya Kawamura, the 29th seed, also scored an upset after bundling out club member Ace Stehmeier, 4 & 3, with Marc Lu, ranked 25th, the third giant-killer of the day after taking out eighth-seeded Lanz Uy, 1-up.
The top two seeds in men’s play—Rupert Zaragosa and 16-year-old Tom Kim of South Korea —had easy times against Eric Gallardo and Marc Corrales, respectively.
Zaragosa, the hands-down favorite to win, scored a 5 and 3 win over Gallardo, while Kim, the winner of the national junior stroke play championship two weeks ago, clobbered Corrales, 6 and 5.
Ira Alido ripped Ivan Monsalve, 4 and 3, and will face Zaragosa in the second round today, with Kim advancing to face John Jun, who scored a 3 and 2 win over Bobby Celestino.
The top five seeds in the women’s division will see action starting today after drawing opening round byes, with No. 1 Kristine Torralba colliding with Annika Guangko, a 1-up winner over Carla Canto.
Second-ranked Hwang Min-jeong of South Korea will clash with young Tomi Arejola, a 7 and 5 winner over Yun Ji-jang.