Manotoc winds up 3rd

Tommy Manotoc

Tommy Manotoc closed out with a four-over-par 75 Friday and settled for third in the  prestigious Hong Kong Senior Open, just two strokes behind champion Douglas Williams at the Old Course of the exclusive Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.

Counting earlier rounds of 76 and 74, the 67-year-old Inquirer Sports columnist tallied 225 and was the runaway winner in the 65-69 division.

The 2006 champion, Manotoc was the only Filipino in the 90-strong field.

The 57-year-old American carded rounds of 74, 72 and 77 and won by a stroke over Joseph Pethes, who rallied with a 70. Pethes had earlier rounds of 76 and 78 over the tree-lined layout built in 1889.

Andrew Atkinson of the UK was fourth at 226 after a 78, with Japan’s Isamu Takemoto firing a 77 for 231.

It was Williams’ second straight title and fourth overall in the HK meet. —Musong Castillo