Fil-Am golf: John Hay pulls away by 13 pts

BAGUIO CITY—Fred Puckett bucked an aching back to match par-61 worth 36 points and lift defending Seniors Fil champion Camp John Hay to a 13-point lead Monday after two rounds of the 62nd Fil-Am Invitational golf tournament at the Baguio Country Club course.

Puckett, who started with back-to-back bogeys, gunned down five birdies to spark CJH’s output of 118 as Rudy Lockey contributed 30 points and Bong Mandapat and Park Jong-won added 26 each.

With a two-round aggregate of 218, CJH pulled away from Maxima Komatsu, which amassed just 109 for the day and 205 overall behind a 32 from Bong Sison.

“My back really ached so I had to control my drives, which were a little wild,” said Puckett.

Maxima Komatsu drew a couple of 26 from Florene delos Santos and Poch Hernandez and one of the 22s from Dennis Cabalfin and Freddie Mendoza.

A rout also shaped up in Fil Flight A as Aguinaldo came up with a 97 for 189 points and an 18-point lead over Baguio City, which scored an 84 for a 171 total. Cordillera Early Birds had an 84 for 158.

Savers ComClark also pulled away in Flight F with an 86 for 193. Summer Capital-North follows at 83-69. Baguio Ventures was third at 88-167.

In Flight G, A1 Driving School led with 158 points followed by Team Orion (150), Stallion Team 2 (131), Korea Morning Calm (130), Summer Capital East (127), J2C (126) and Isabela-Roxas (122).

The Mountaineers Golf Team paced Am F with an 86 for a two-day total of 176 as Kalinga Vice Gov. Sonny Mangaoang shot a 29, former Tabuk Mayor Camilo Lammawin contributed 22, Rainier Sarol added 18 and Gigi Jayme scored a 17 for the Mountaineers. With a report from Frank Cimatu, Inquirer Northern Luzon