Sta. Rosa, Laguna—Clyde Mondilla came through with two clutch shots to formally claim the Solaire Philippine Open 2019 Golf crown yesterday here.
The 25-year-old Mondilla, who became the 17th Filipino golfer to win the PH Open, finished the round with a 3-over 75 to take home his first-ever national title at the 7645-yard layout of The Country Club course.
Mondilla felt the challenge put up by American golfer Nicolas Paez, who played a great game all throughout to end up with a two-under-par 70.
But Paez’s last-day showing proved not enough for him to topple Mondilla, who had a 72-hole total of 290.
Paez was two strokes behind Mondilla with 292, after putting in rounds of 74, 75, 73, in this tournament sponsored by Solaire Resort & Casino and backed by ICTSI, PLDT Enterprise, Meralco, BDO and PGT Asia official apparel Pin High.
“Marami ang naghahangad nito and I’m so lucky,” said Mondilla, who took the crown that Miguel Tabuena claimed last year.
Paez chased Mondilla’s lead all day after he picked up two of his four birdies in the back nine and in first and eighth holes.
Rattled, Mondilla bogeyed four of holes in the front nine for a 39 score.
At the same time, two-day leader Tawit Polthai of Thailand committed a triple bogey in the fifth hole and fell behind.
Polthai tallied a four over par 76 and settled for fifth overall with 296.
Mondilla’s birdies in the 14th and 15th came after he settled down with par scores in the 11th to 13th holes.
All these restored Mondilla’s confidence in his game.
“May pressure ako. Ninerbyos ako sa first nine kasi iyung mga kalaban ko ay hindi basta-basta,” said Mondilla, who earned a $90,000 purse for the championship, while Paez took home $55,000.
Angelo Que claimed the third-place honors and the $28,250 prize, with Thailand’s Sae-Ueng finishing fourth.
Polthai (296) claimed $20,500 in fifth, while teammates Poom Saksansin and Namchok Tanthipokakul placed sixth and seventh, respectively.