Salvador romps away with title

CEBU—Elmer Salvador needed just an even par 71 to complete a six-shot romp over Antonio  Lascuña in the Aboitiz Invitational championship presented by ICTSI at the challenging Cebu Country Club here yesterday.

After losing his overnight one-shot lead on the second hole, Salvador rebounded with a two-stroke swing on No. 5 and stayed on top for good as Lascuña struggled with a birdie-less 76  in this seventh leg of the Asian Development Tour sponsored by Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.

Salvador wound up with an eight-under 276 total anchored by a fiery 65 in the third round and ran away with the top $11,375 purse (around P477,000) out of the total pot of $65,000 in nailing his first international victory after two near-misses on the Asian Tour.

Lascuña picked up $7,475 after finishing with a 282 total highlighted by a 66 Friday.

Mars Pucay and Elmer Saban carded 72s and shared third place at 285 worth $4,095 for each while Korean Kim Gi-whan shot a 69 for a 286 and emerged top finisher among a slew of foreign bets in the event put up by International Container Terminal Services Inc.

Jay Bayron, back-to-back winner of this event, including last year when it became a leg of the ADT, settled for sixth with a 70 in a tie with Richard Sinfuego, who also had a 70, for 287.

Rookie Clyde Mondilla shot the day’s best of four-under 67 to snatch solo eighth at 288 while England’s Peter Richardson and Dutch Guido Van der Valk shared ninth place at 289 after a 71 and 73, respectively.

Bracing for a shootout, Salvador found the going tough early, dropping a stroke on the par-5 No. 2 and enabling Lascuña to draw level. But he gained a big two-shot swing on No. 5 with a birdie as Lascuña flubbed his par from six feet.

Regaining his confidence, Salvador made a couple of crucial par putts in the next five holes then went three up at the turn as Lascuña dropped another stroke on the seventh.

The other backers of the event, also serving as the ninth leg of the ICTSI PGT, were Empire Golf, Titleist, Footjoy, Callaway, TaylorMade, Mizuno, Srixon, Nike Golf, Custom Clubmakers and Sharp with Balls, Studio 23, Pinoygolfer.com and Inquirer Golf as media partners.