CANLUBANG—The 2012 Philippine Amateur Open golf championship may yet crown a Filipino champion after all.
Fil-Singaporean Gregory Foo
Gregory Foo, the Singaporean ace whose mother is Filipino, Saturday conquered the gusts, the sleek greens and the field at Canlubang’s North course here to shoot another three-under-par 69 and take a comfortable six-stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes of the prestigious championship.
The 18-year-old, who used to come home during holidays as a kid and likes pork sinigang and tocino, broke free from a two-day tie for the lead with Jobim Carlos with a great all-around effort that gave him an eight-under 208 aggregate going into today’s final round.
Carlos never got his game going and shot a 75 that dropped him to second with former champion Clyde Mondilla, who fired a 70 for 214 in the event presented by Globe Telecom, Pancake House and Airphil Express.
“There are still 18 holes left to play and I just have to keep playing my game, keep my focus and see what happens,” Foo told the Inquirer. “This course can punish you so it would be foolish to think that it’s all over.”
Carlos, the ICTSI scholar in the United States who was tied with Foo in the first two rounds, disagrees, however, as he marvelled at the way the Filipino-Singaporean played.
“He’s not capable of shooting very high numbers because his game is so controlled,” said the 19-year-old Carlos, who also finished second to Korean expatriate Wang Jeung-yun at the Riviera last year.
“I will go out there and play my best and see what happens,” Carlos, who had a birdie-less round marred by three bogeys, added, “I just didn’t get anything to work today. I stuck with my game plan, kept my composure [but] just didn’t score (low).”
Foo had four birdies against a lone bogey, which came on No. 12 when he hit a wayward drive to the right and missed the green badly coming from the tall rough.
Meanwhile, the women’s finale of the tournament backed by Tanduay Distillers Inc. as major sponsor and supported by Club Car, Pacsports, Golf Depot, Autohub and Callaway with Acacia Hotel as official hotel and Titleist as official ball will also be held today after a one-day break with Sarah Ababa taking a one-stroke lead over Lovelyn Guioguio into the final round.
Mondilla, a mainstay of the ICTSI-Canlubang team, had a roller-coaster round that included a double bogey and two bogeys on his front side. The long-hitter from Bukidnon opened and closed his round with birdies.
Miko Alejandro fired a 71 and was alone in fourth at level 216 even as Choi Jae-seung assembled a 74 to be another stroke behind.
Jerome Ng, the other crack Singaporean in the field, struggled with a 74 and bowed out of it all with a 218 aggregate like JR Gonzales, who fired a 70.
Rupert Zaragosa, the reigning men’s and boys’ match play champion, was steady with a 73 for 220.
The leading scores:
(Filipino unless stated)
208—G. Foo (Sin) 70-69-69; 214—C. Mondilla 70-74-70, J. Carlos 70-69-75; 216—M. Alejandro 73-72-71; 217—C.J. Seung (Kor) 72-71-74; 218—JR Gonzales 76-72-70, J. Ng (Sin) 73-71-74; 220—R. Zaragosa 79-68-73; 222—L. Go 76-73-73; G. Gandiongco 73-75-74, J. Quiban 77-75-70, H. Jung (Kor) 76-73-73; 224—J. Abano 76-76-72, P. Cho (Kor) 74-77-73, J. Reyes 76-74-74.