Casas nips Lascuña by one stroke, takes home P1.5M as TCC champ

CANLUBANG—Cassius Casas still got game.

The veteran, who has been dismissed as past his prime, returned to the winner  circle after shooting a three-under-par 67 to rule the rich The Country Club Invitational 11 years after his first triumph at the exclusive, windswept layout here.

Casas nipped third-round leader Antonio Lascuña by a shot,  tallying a seven-under 273 to win the P1.5 million champion’s prize in the event held in honor of the late founder of ICTSI, Don Pocholo Razon.

“It’s been a long time, and it’s nice to win here again,” Casas, the inaugural winner of this event in 2003, said in Filipino.

“I trained very hard to get my game back to where it is now. This is all about the hard work that I put in.”

Lascuna, who started the day a stroke ahead of Casas, failed to break par for the first time, his 71 giving him a 274  and an unchallenged second place finish.

Jonel Ababa closed out with a 69 for 283 and solo third spot with Rey Pagunsan, the leader after two rounds, ballooning to a 79 to check in fourth in a tie with Zannie Boy Gialon and Mars Pucay, who fired a 71 and 73, respectively, for 284.

Low amateur honors

Princess Superal, the spearhead of the ICTSI ladies team, also finished with a 284 tally while hitting from the white tees to clinch low amateur honors. The 17-year-old Superal closed out with a 74.

Casas easily erased Lascuña’s overnight lead with back-to-back birdies from No. 4, before padding the advantage to three after another bird on the par-5 14th.

Not even a birdie by Lascuña on the 16th and a bogey by Casas on the 72nd hole could prevent Cassius from winning for the first time since ruling the Del Monte leg of the ICTSI Tour in 2010 when the final flight was disqualified.

“I ran out of holes, but Cassius played a solid game from start to finish,” said Lascuña in Filipino.

Lascuña won this event the year after Casas won his first. He settled for the P700,000 runner-up purse.

Jay Bayron and Orlan Sumcad tied for 285 after a 66 and 69, respectively, with Frankie Miñoza, last year’s champion, rounding out the Top 10 at 286 after a 71.