Australia reclaims crown by 19 strokes

Team Philippines churned out its best effort yesterday, shooting a final day 313 built around the four-over-par 76 of Rolly Viray and the 77 of Abe Avena, but still finished a far sixth in the Asia-Pacific Senior Amateur Golf won by Australia.

With Richie Garcia shooting a 79 and Alan Alegre chipping in with an 81, the Filipinos wound up with a 967, a whopping 69 strokes behind the 898 of the Aussies, who reclaimed the title by holding off a hard-charging New Zealand crew.

Greg Rhodes fired a 74 and Ian Frost a 75 as the Aussies dethroned the Kiwis, who fired a tournament-best 294 but still fell way short with a 917 total.

The Philippines last won this event in 2007 at Mount Malarayat in Lipa City with a team built around Tommy Manotoc and Iggy Clevecilla. —Musong R. Castillo