Dottie Ardina averts medal shutout

BEKASI, West Java—Dottie Ardina salvaged a bronze medal Thursday as the golfers joined the growing list of failures for the Philippines in the 26th Southeast Asian Games.

Top men’s individual hope Rupert Zaragosa, tied for the lead going into the final round, fell victim to food poisoning and his team lost the bronze to Malaysia via countback.

The Malaysians also took the bronze by a stroke over the defending champion Filipinos in ladies’ play with Chihiro Ikeda, also the individual winner two years ago, ending up sixth.

“We definitely need to reassess our program,” said delegation head Tommy Manotoc.
“Definitely, we underachieved this year.”

It was the first gold-medal shutout in the event for the Filipinos.

Ardina matched par 72 in the final round, then beat Indonesia’s Juriah in sudden death to salvage the individual bronze medal at the Jagorawi Golf and Country Club here.

Weakened by food poisoning Thursday night, Zaragosa shot an 81 like Clyde Mondilla to finish ninth overall at 297.

With Art Arbole matching par 72 and Jobim Carlos adding a 73, the Filipinos tied with Malaysia for third but lost the bronze as the Malaysians finished with the better aggregate score for the day, 224-225.

Ikeda closed out with a 77 as the Filipinos wound up with a 444 total for 54 holes, a stroke behind the Malaysians.

Thailand and Indonesia swept the two golds in their respective divisions. The Thais ruled men’s play with an 865 total, eight strokes ahead of the Indonesians, with Rattanon Wannasric bagging the individual gold at 286.

The Indonesians bagged the women’s title over the Thais, 493-495, with Tatiana clinching the individual title at 217.