Rosales pulls away

SILANG, Cavite – The sheer weight of the golf bag could make one moan and grumble, but Jennifer Rosales, her lean frame hunched while criss-crossing the full route of the up-and-down layout of Riviera’s Langer Course, ignored the pain – all for a brother’s gain.

Gerald Rosales, drawing inspiration from her sister-caddy and getting enough lift from the course that played hard as it could get, stormed to a five-shot lead despite a two-over par 73 yesterday as the former amateur hotshot threatened to blow away the star-studded field in the Philippine Open golf championship here.

"Ang bagal lang," said Gerald in jest, pointing to her out-of-shape, blonde-haired Jenny, who agreed to caddie for him after losing a bet the previous day when the former surged ahead by three by shooting the tournament’s only under-par card of 70.

And the way they teamed up in a crucial round, the tandem appeared to be unbeatable and the reed-thin Gerald unshakable.

Undaunted by Robert Pactolerin and Eddie Bagtas in the featured threesome, Rosales overcame a sputtering start, outgunned his more-experienced rivals with solid iron play before hanging tough in the closing holes with gutsy pars to salvage a round of 37-36.

That proved more than enough for Rosales to stretch his lead to five in another punishing day at Langer, where most of the pin placements were strategically placed on the edge of the surface that required the surviving field more than accuracy and mental toughness.

Rosales had both of them in his arsenal, plus more, and he underscored this when he asked Jenny for an 8-iron to play a 176-yard approach shot on the par-4 18th. He came short, as expected, then pitched to within six feet before sinking a par that capped his three-day aggregate of 215.

That was a whopping five-stroke lead over Mars Pucay, whose 74 intriguingly gave him the second spot at 220 as Pactolerin and Bagtas, three shots behind Rosales at the start of the round, both tumbled down the leaderboard with 77 and 82, respectively.

Rosales, who capped a checkered amateur career with a silver medal finish in the 1998 Asian Games in Thailand, thus moved within 18 holes from winning his first crown since he turned pro in November last year in a career marred by only one missed-cut stint in the Asian PGA Tour.

"The good thing is the course is playing hard. So I think it’s difficult (for my rivals) to shoot low scores tomorrow (today)," said Rosales, adding that a two-over par card today would be enough to win him the championship in this P2 million event worth P400,000.

Rey Pagunsan, whom Rosales played with in many a national team, matched par 71 for the day’s best score as he joined the championship flight today with a 221 aggregate, which also included former national team mainstays Tony Lascuna (76) and first round leader Ruben Sasutil (75).

Cassius Casas and Canadian Rick Gibson both had 74s and remained tied for the third straight day at 222, the same output put in by Pactolerin, the Konica UBIX Open winner at Wack Wack two weeks ago, who had too many bogeys on the glass-top surface of the challenging layout. Bagtas skied to an 82 and fell to 14th with 227.

"I started out bad but Jenny kind of calmed me down. Relax lang daw ako," said Gerald, who bogeyed three of the first five holes but recovered his bearing and rhythm when he sank an uphill 20-foot birdie putt on No. 9 lined up by Jenny.

Actually, the five-time RP Ladies Open champion and LPGA campaigner, out of shape and out of the fairway after cutting her finger in an accident that required five stitches back in the US, had threatened to quit after nine holes due to fatigue.

"I don’t have much energy left," mumbled Jenny while quenching her thirst with mineral water on their way to tee No. 10.

She, however, changed her mind and continued her odd job that made them a sight to watch with dad Gene and mom Lourdes and a cousin in the gallery.