Young Sean Ramos fired a two-under 70 that stood out in a day of soaring scores at the Luisita Golf and Country Club yesterday, towing Aidric Chan and Carl Corpus to a share of the lead with Gab Manotoc after two rounds of the first of the two-stage SEA Games men’s team qualifier in Tarlac.
Ramos recovered strong from a disastrous 76 start by bucking two bogeys with four birdies, including one on the tough No. 18 as he moved from joint 15th to the top of the heap at 146 with the fancied Chan and Corpus with Manotoc barely hanging tough.
Manotoc and Luis Castro, who shot identical 69s to grab the first round lead Tuesday, struggled for form this time but the former hit a late birdie to save his spot at the top despite a 77 for a 146, the same outputs put in by Chan and Corpus, who carded 73 and 74, respectively.
Chan, the reigning national junior champion who anchored his team-up with Rey Pagunsan to victory in the recent National pro-am at Splendido, survived a shaky finish of two bogeys in the last four holes for a 35-38 while Corpus birdied the 18th to salvage a pair of 77s as they bolstered their bids for the three coveted slots in the national team vying in the Southeast Asian Games the country is hosting from Nov. 30-Dec. 10.
Castro limped with a 78 and slipped to fifth at 147 while Jhondie Quibol and Edward Dy assembled identical 148s after a pair of 75s, and Lanz Uy and Paolo Wong stayed in the hunt with similar 76s for 149s in the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.
Only the top 24 made it to the last 36 holes of Stage I elims sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, the PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific and hosted by Luisita with the top 12 plus ties and players within 10 strokes of the leading scorer advancing to Stage 2.
The final phase will be played on June 10-13 also at Luisita with the top three players to banner the SEA Games men’s squad. The Phl women’s squad will be composed by the Asian Games gold medal winning troika of Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go.
The Robert Trent Jones, Sr.-designed layout will also host the SEAG golf competitions for both men’s and women’s.
Completing the top 24 are Alexander Bisera (76-150), Leandro Bagtas (74-151), Paolo Barro (74-151), Rolando Bregente (75-151), Ryan Monsalve (76-151), Kristoffer Arevalo (79-151), Vince Lusterio (78-152), Ivan Monsalve (75-153), Jacob Rolida (75-154), Josh Jorge (76-154), Don Petil (78-154), Dan Cruz (84-155), Perry Bucay (78-158), Elee Bisera (81-159) and David Guangko (83-159).
