TRECE MARTIREZ, Cavite—Rebounding from a momentary lapse of concentration, Elmer Salvador birdied his last two holes to salvage a three-under-par 69 and repeat as the ICTSI Sherwood Hills Challenge champion by three strokes yesterday.
Shaken by a double bogey 5 on No. 16 where he three-putted after missing the green, Salvador produced two remarkable approaches in the next two holes for birdies that pulled him away for good from Antonio Lascuña.
Salvador, who opened up with a 66 built around the first albatross in ICTSI Tour history on Wednesday, finished with a 12-under 276 and captured the top purse of P450,000.
The dusky Lascuña, five shots off Salvador after 54 holes, came to within one early on the back nine before settling for a 67 and 279 aggregate.
“I don’t know what happened, I just got careless,” Salvador told the Inquirer in Filipino after his misadventure on the 16th. “It wasn’t a case of nerves (because Lascuña was catching up). I didn’t feel nervous at all because I’m now used to pressure.”
Lascuña made it an interesting final round by shooting a 32 in the front, highlighted by three successive birds from No. 3, before coming to within one after consecutive birdies from No. 11.
But the Asian Tour veteran missed a three-foot putt for birdie on No. 13 and then muffed a par putt from practically the same distance in the next to lose steam.
Cassius Casas, four down at the start of the round, floundered with a 74 built around a horrendous 41 at the front to finish tied for fourth with Jun Bernis at 286.
Bernis, the former national champion who fired a 79 on Wednesday, submitted a 70, his third straight day under par.
Jay Bayron, another Asian Tour campaigner who is the reigning Cebu-Aboitiz champion, duplicated Lascuña’s 67 and rallied to finish third, three strokes ahead of Bernis and Casas.
Casas double bogeyed the two par-3s on the front nine before birdieing four of his first six holes coming home. But a bogey-birdie-double bogey finish pulled him down in the end.
The final scores:
276 – E. Salvador 66-71-70-69; 279 – A. Lascuña 72-71-69-67; 283 – J. Bayron68-74-74-67; 286 – J. Bernis 79-68-69-70, Casas 74-69-68-75; 287 – C. Hong 73-71-72-71; 292 – R. Pagunsan 77-75-72-68, C. Mondilla 77-74-72-69, M. Fernando 76-75-69-72, Z. Gialon 71-71-77-73.