Golf seniors make noise amid megafight frenzy

MANILA, Philippines—On a weekend that the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao match was finally announced in rapid-fire fashion, senior golfers on both sides of the Pacific managed to sneak in a few shots of their own.

While social and conventional media ignited with reaction to boxing’s dream bout, golf’s oldies but goodies also lit up a fire that the sporting media dared not put out.

Roaming the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles for the Northern Trust Open, several of what a veteran golf writer described as “carbon-based products from the PGA Tour’s Paleozoic era” gave the game’s youngsters a heck of a fight.

At some point on the last day of the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 22,  at least five of the game’s dinosaurs were vying for the title.

In the end, Retief Goosen, 46, the 54-hole leader; Vijay Singh, 52, the opening day co-leader; Angel Cabrera, 45 Jim Furyk, 44, and Sergio Garcia, 35 were all undone by the tricky holes of Riviera’s back nine on a rainy, sloppy afternoon.

These distinguished members of golf’s geriatric set had combined for at least 10 major PGA championships in the past.

The tournament that had to compete for news attention with the Oscars in Hollywood, eventually crowned a winner who did not turn out to be a well-known name but a “what’s his name,” said the Los Angeles Times in a play on words.

It was James Hahn, who at  33 years old, is no longer a spring chicken himself.

The  PGA Tour veteran from the Bay Area outlasted Goosen and the ex-champs while slogging through a wet course to notch his first tour win.

It was worth $1.2 million (about P44.2 million) and an invitation to the Masters. Not bad for the American citizen originally from Seoul, South Korea who was ranked 297th in the world before Riviera.

For comparison and perspective, our own Antonio Lascuña is ranked 188th and Fidel Que 269th in the world.

Prior to Riviera, Goosen was at 189th while Vijay was at 228th.

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Meanwhile, about 12,800 kilometers away in Cebu City, at the ongoing PAL Interclub, Asia’s premier golf team tournament crowned the Canlubang Sugar Barons Seniors kings for the eighth time.

The Barons, led by occasional Inquirer sports columnist Tommy Manotoc, romped to a 17-point win  over chief challenger Luisita Golf Club at the Mactan and Club Filipino courses.

Inquirer scribe Musong Castillo reported that the 65-year-old Manotoc, one of the region’s most recognizable golf personalities, provided “the steadying presence” for his team after a two-year absence due to illness and other issues.

Senior shotmakers from Canlubang and Luisita have a storied rivalry in the PAL Interclub, first conceived in Cebu in 1947 by pioneering executives of the national flag carrier.