Southwoods still wary about Cangolf

DAVAO—Playing efficiently for the second straight day for another 136 points, Manila Southwoods on Thursday opened up a 14-point lead over Canlubang in the 70th PAL Interclub, but skipper Thirdy Escaño remains guarded as ever with the Sugar Barons still breathing down their necks.

“I refuse to be confident, despite our 14-point lead,” Escaño told the Inquirer after getting an even-par 72 worth 36 points from Yuto Katsuragawa and 34s from Liam Cully and Aira Alido at well-manicured Rancho Palos Verdes here.

“Canlubang will never be a pushover and it can come back.”

Southwoods churned out another balanced effort, counting both 32s of Aidric Chan and Jama Reyes for a halfway 272 aggregate as action stays at Palos Verdes, where Escaño said he will do “some tweaking in the lineup” to get his best five on the course for the final day.

Gido Mandanas assembled a 36, Carlo Villaroman backed him up with 34 and Cangolf managed to stay in the hunt despite getting just 33 from multi-titled Rupert Zaragosa in a 133 effort for 258.

Cangolf, a traditional power both in the Senior and Regular Men’s championships, got 30 points from Marco Olives, who dropped shots in each of his last three holes.

“That’s the kind of team you don’t want to be overconfident with,” Escaño continued.

“They have the experience coming back from large deficits and their coaching staff knows that it’s doing. That’s why fielding (in the final two days) will be important.”

Zaragosa struggled with two bogeys and a double in his first 12 holes and didn’t have a birdie, quite uncharacteristic and the reason why Escaño believes the Barons have the tools to make a comeback.

“We simply got the better breaks today,” he said. “If Rupert got going, it would have been a totally different story altogether.”

Del Monte, meanwhile, grabbed third place from Luisita with a 127 as Jelbert Gamolo fired a tournament-best 38 points with a 35-33 card.

A total of 80 teams are entered in the five-division event.