Iñigo rally decides PH Senior Am
MANILA—Playing steady enough, Pepot Iñigo fired a three-over-par 75 yesterday to complete a comeback from four strokes down and rule the 2011 Philippine Senior Amateur championship by a shot over Mari Hechanova at The Riviera’s Couples layout.
The burly club bet signed for pars in all of his final nine holes and then earned the break he needed after Hechanova dropped a total of six shots in the same stretch for an 80 as Iñigo tallied a 54-hole 228 to win the event for the first time.
Hechanova, the usually steady mainstay of the Canlubang PAL Interclub squad, actually padded a four-stroke overnight lead to five after making the turn at 38 and Iñigo submitting a 39.
Iñigo began his charge on No. 10, when Hechanova signed for a double bogey before dropping shots on the 12th and 15th holes. His miseries weren’t about to stop, as he also doubled the 16th to finally yield the lead.
Rolly Viray, the former Men’s champion and winner of the Senior crown, ballooned to a closing 78 marred by a triple bogey 8 on No. 11 to finish another stroke back in third spot with a 230.
Florene Delos Santos was fourth at 233 after an 80, which left him tied with former World Amateur campaigner and ex-pro Dave Hernandez, another member of the champion Cangolf team who fired a 78.
Tony Olives of Cangolf fired an 81 and wound up seventh with a 237 even as last year’s runner-up and former national champion Francis Gaston shot his best round of the week, a 79, that gave him a 241 for eighth.
Katy Katigbak of Mt. Malarayat went all the way to cop the Category II (60-64) plum with a 155 after a 77. Mario Lugay of Eastridge bagged the Category III (65-69) title with a 163 for a six-shot win over teammate Vic Onella (169) while Danny Pizarro beat fellow Riviera bet Peter Shanks by 14 shots, 154-168, to clinch the Super Senior I diadem.
Jun Galindez of Alabang took the Super Senior II title with a 193 after a 90 while former President Fidel V. Ramos ran away with the Super Senior III crown with a 208 after a 100.
