SW pads lead despite poor third round

CEBU—Manila Southwoods has more or less put a lock on another Philippine Airlines Interclub men’s championship despite a mediocre third-round effort at Club Filipino in Danao on Friday.

But more than winning, non-playing skipper Thirdy Escaño has given his youth-laden, talent-rich team a tongue-lashing for he believes that the Carmona-based bets are still performing far below what they are capable of.

“We want to lift the level of play here,” an emotional Escaño told the Inquirer as he bemoaned a 127-point output for a 19-point lead over Eastridge heading into the final 18 holes of the country’s unofficial team championship. “We missed our target for the second straight day even if we had a stronger team.”

Masaichi Otake, from being the last scorer in the second round, rebounded with a two-over-par 74 worth 34 points, Ryan Monsalve had 33 and Shinichi Suzuki 32 to lead Southwoods, which counted the 28 of Lanz Uy while throwing away Kristoffer Arevalo’s 27.

With a 401 aggregate going into the final round at well-manicured Alta Vista and with Gabriel Manotoc coming out, Southwoods seems to have put a lock on another title.

But Escaño is having none of it at the moment, scheduling a team dinner Friday to give his players more of his mind.

They have one round to redeem themselves and prove to Escaño that they have what it takes to take their careers to the next level.

“Some of them have told me that they will turn pro after [the Interclub], but with the way they are playing, I told them they have no business doing that,” Escaño said. “I’ve been here longer than most of them have been alive, and I know what I am talking about.”

Eastridge got 31 points from Tonton Asistio and 30s from Ronel Tagaan and Tim Co that went with the 29 of Loyd Labrador for 120 and 382 overall, six ahead of Cebu Country Club, which also had a 120 built around the 34s of Carl Almario and Jacob Cajita.

“Winning comes with a lot of discipline, I keep telling my boys that,” Escaño went on. “Sometimes when you give them a lot of leeway, these things happen.”