Two-horse race as Eastridge, Southwoods try to close out with a flurry

Jhondie Quibol fires tournament- best 65 for 43 points for Eastridge. —PAL PHOTO

MANOLO FORTICH, Bukidnon—Eastridge and Manila Southwoods came out firing at tree-lined Del Monte here on Sunday, and for all intents and purposes, assured a two-horse race for the centerpiece title in Regular Men’s play of the 75th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub.

With Eastridge getting an eye-popping seven-under-par 65 worth 43 points from Jhondie Quibol that boosted the squad to a third round 112 tally and 323 overall, the Binangonan squad wrested the lead from Del Monte and will be taking a five-point advantage over Southwoods into Monday’s final round.

“The final round will be exciting,” Gimo Asuncion, the Eastridge nonplaying skipper said as the squad guns for its first Championship division title against the club that has lorded it over the tournament for a good chunk of the past decade.

“We battled very hard today,” Asuncion said. “[We need to play] one more good round.”

Southwoods tallied a day-best 115 points built on the 39 of Ryan Monsalve and the 38s of fellow pro-bound stalwarts Aidric Chan and Lanz Uy as the Carmona-based club played with so much efficiency that it threw away the level 36 of fourth man Masaichi Otake.

Confidence boost

And that has given nonplaying captain Thirdy Escaño the confidence that they can cop the team’s ninth championship.

“We played very well today, my last man scored even par and did not count,” Escaño said. “Another one like today should be able us to do the job. Let’s hope for the best.”

Sweep-seeking Del Monte effectively bowed out of the fight after amassing only 98 points over its favorite stomping ground. With a 309 aggregate, Del Monte will start the final day 14 points off Eastridge.

Eastridge will have Ronel Taga-an, Edison Tabalin, Jeff Lumbo and Gary Sales coming out for the final 18, while Southwoods fields Shinichi Suzuki, Zach Castro, Miko Granada and Otake in its bid to complete a comeback from as many as 13 points down after the first round.

Also close is the race for the Founders division plum, with Cebu Country Club staying on top with 290 points and Valley Golf having 286. Running third with 282 was Pueblo de Oro, which made the biggest move with 103 points. INQ