Jahns takes it by 7 big shots

PRESSURE-FREE from the sixth hole on, Keanu Jahns yesterday won the WWWExpress-DHL Amateur Open pulling away from Rupert Zaragosa after closing out with a five-under-par 67 at Canlubang’s North course in Laguna.

Jahns, a half-German born here to a Filipino mother, gunned down the second of his six birdies on the sixth hole to build a five-stroke cushion on his closest pursuer and pocket his first title in the country by a whopping seven shots.

The win, the second for Jahns in his young career following a victory in the Faldo Series in Austria last year, also sealed his place in the national team pool.

Jahns tallied a seven-under-par 281 over the tree-lined course in conditions approximating those of the professional tournaments and became possibly the youngest winner in 18 years of the event presented by the MVP Sports Foundation.

“That birdie took away all the pressure,” Jahns said as he left Zaragosa, who fired a 70, by eight strokes and erstwhile second-running Jik-Jik Abdon by five, after both scored routine pars on the par-3 6th.

Abdon, the former national champion, eventually struggled to a 78 and lost third spot via a countback to Gen Nagai, the Japanese teenager from Cebu, who closed out with a 74. They tallied 294s.

“I never got near him, never gained ground,” said the 15-year-old Zaragosa, the pint-sized wonder who held both the men’s and boys’ national championships in 2011. “He (Jahns) was solid out there today.”

The event also backed by Pancake House, Nike, Golf Depot and Pacsports also produced a runaway winner in women’s play.

Pro-bound Dottie Ardina fired a 72 to win by eight over Princes Superal with a 212 total.

Superal matched Ardina’s 72 for 220 even as Pauline del Rosario (75) Chanelle Avaricio (76) and 13-year-old Abegail Arevalo (78) rounded out the top five finishers in the tournament that is part of the PLDT Group Amateur Tour.