Enrique Dimayuga carded a five-under-par 67 in the rain-delayed final round as the Philippines completed a stunning double victory in the Putra Cup in Singapore on Friday.
Donning the PH jersey after the Cambodia Southeast Asian (SEA) Games two years ago, the London-based, 22-year-old Dimayuga was solid in the last two weeks, which he started by winning the Singapore Open Amateur Championship last week.
Against the best in the SEA region, Dimayuga was simply sensational.
He dropped an eagle and seven birdies in his first 15 holes at Seletar Country Club and won the individual battle with local bet Ryan Ang despite bogeying the last three holes played under steady rain.
Dimayuga and Ang, scoring a 68, both ended up at 277 but the Fil-Briton prevailed in the countback.
Dimayuga’s heroics also enabled the Philippines to end a long victory drought since its 2013 victory led by Rico Hoey, who is now proudly flying the Philippine flag on the PGA Tour.
Carl Corpus added a 71 after a birdie-birdie finish, and Shinichi Suzuki made up for Jet Hernandez’s final round woes by checking in with the third score of the team, a 73, after failing to contribute in the first three rounds.
The Philippines wound up with a 17 under 847 total, with Vietnam finishing second 10 strokes off and traditional power Thailand coming in third at 859.
National Golf Association of the Philippines president Martin Lorenzo paid tribute to the Philippine quartet.
“Congratulations to our winning team! Your exceptional achievement has made the Philippines proud,” said Lorenzo.