Easy wins for Corpus, Gabasa

Carl Corpus. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Already teeming with potential, Carl Corpus knew he was bound to reach his peak after months of hard work and some equipment changes that took his game to another level.

“I’m just so happy winning this because I’ve been practicing really hard the past few months,” said Corpus moments after completing a runaway nine-stroke victory in the National Stroke Play Championship with a closing one-over-par 72 Friday at Riviera’s challenging Langer layout.

Corpus claiming a second major title less than a month after ruling the individual race of the Fil-Am championship was the result of what he said was a newfound confidence after a change in his putter and irons.

With a seven-shot lead after three rounds, Corpus, who tallied a 72-hole 287, left everyone fighting for second place.

And that went to his cousin Aidric Chan, who must have found the old sparkle in his game after struggling with health issues. He returned the best round of the day of even-par 71 for 296, edging by one Filipino-American teener Jaden Dumdumaya, who returned a 75.

Similar romp

Junia Louise Gabasa, meanwhile, shared top honors with Corpus after the Texas State standout cruised to an eight-stroke win in the women’s division.

Gabasa fired a 67 highlighted by five consecutive birdies from the seventh to tally a 283.

Lois Kaye Go completed an all-Cebu show by taking second place at 291 after posting her best round of the week, a 68. Mafy Singson, herself a daughter of a Cebu-born father, shot 72-297 and finished third.

It was the battle for second between Chan and Dumdumaya that became the side show.

Dumdumaya was still leading by three with three holes to go but yielded four strokes after he went bogey-par-bogey against the birdie-birdie-par stretch of Chan.