Go, Mangana snare MVPSF match play titles

MANILA, Philippines — LJ Go overpowered Joaquin Velez with a superb all-around game and ran away with a lopsided 10&9 result while Angela Mangana rallied to frustrate Junia Gabasa in a stirring finish to snare the women’s crown, 2&1, in the third MVPSF Visayas Regional Match Play Championship at the Cebu Country Club yesterday.

The top seeded Go imposed his will early on the 11th-ranked Velez, going 6-up after the first 18 holes in the morning duel then taking four more holes at resumption in the afternoon to cut short their scheduled 36-hole finale to just 27 holes.

The women’s finale, however, provided the thrill lacking in the men’s duel as Mangana, who finished at No. 2 in the 36-hole stroke play elims, battled back from 2-down in morning play then broke out from an all-square match after 27 holes by winning three of the next five.

Gabasa closed to within two with a par on the par-5 16th which Mangana, from Mactan Island Golf Club, bogeyed but the duo traded bogeys on the next, enabling the latter to clinch the victory.

Earlier, Go capped his week-long exploits with his rout of Velez, who upended Martin Mendoza on the 19th hole Thursday to gain a crack at the crown in the event sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation and held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.