Quiazon, golfers on course

BUSAN, South Korea – Fil-American Ria Dennise Quiazon continued to brandish fine form, firing an eagle-aided one-under-par 71, and the Philippine women’s team stayed at third going into the final round at the Asiad Country Club course.

The RP men’s team virtually bowed out of contention for the gold as it took a horrendous collapse that even an 80 card counted for the embattled Filipinos.

The 21-year-old Quiazon, a student at the University of California in Berkeley, conquered the backside of the mountain-top course with a three-under-par on an eagle-birdie on the 11th and 12th for the day’s second best score.

Quiazon, a pretty 5-foot-9 member of the bronze medal-winning team four years ago, had a 221 total to stand third while her team-up with reigning national titlist Heidi Chua gave RP a 450 total for third. Chua had a 78 while Carmelette Villaroman didn’t count with an 80.

"We’re in high spirits and very positive we won’t settle for bronze," said team skipper Alice Andrada.

Host Korea was protecting a two-shot lead over Japan (432-434) while the Filipinas trailed the Japanese by 16 points and ahead of the fourth-ranking Chinese Taipei (455) by five shots.

Quiazon, also a member of the 1997 SEA Games champion team in Jakarta, was holding a two-over par for 10 holes but she eagled the 462-meter 11th hole and birdied the 13th to go one under. A bogey-birdie turn on the 13th and 14th gave her that sub-par card.

With 78-72 in the first two days, Quiazon was running third at 221, eight shots behind leader Kim Joo Mi (70-213) of Korea and five off Japanese Ai Miyazato (72-216).

Chua was only four over par up to the 16th as she recovered from a double bogey on the ninth with a birdie on the 11th. But she finished bogey-bogey.

Slipping to ninth place overall with 688, the men squad kissed its bid goodbye as it faces a huge 38-shot deficit against front-running Chinese-Taipei (650) and 24 strokes against the three-man Sri Lankans who had 664. Japan was second at 654.

Juvic Pagunsan tried to rally the team with a one-over-par 73 but found little support with Marlon Dizon having a 79 and Jerome Delariarte counting with an 80 while mainstay Angelo Que staggered to an 82 and didn’t count.

The 24-year-old Que best typified the team’s beleaguered stand when he shot a fat 82, the first time he hobbled this bad in a long, long while as an amateur and the team went down with him.

One of the country’s top amateurs the past three years, Que left all hopes of a comeback for the team in a clump of trees guarding the left fairway of the ninth hole.

Que drove left into the trees and in his bid to play out of trouble, he started hacking away, took four shots to get out to finish the par-5 hole with a nine.

He never really got untracked on the day as went out-of-bounds on the fourth and three-putted for a triple bogey.

"Hindi para sa atin. Hindi nagtapat-tapat ang laro namin," said Que who is to turn pro after the World Championship this October in Malaysia.

Pagunsan, the reed-thin SEA Games individual champion from Canlubang, improved by four shots his previous round as he went even par on the front nine with two birdies against two bogeys. He birdied the 11th but bogeyed two of the next three holes.