Sato completes romp, wins by 4

Japanese Keisuke Sato matched par 72 yesterday to post a four-stroke victory in the boys division and cap a successful hosting by the country of the inaugural Asia-Pacific Junior Masters golf championships at the Legends course of the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.

A day after Lu Hsiao-ching of Taiwan came from behind to nip local bet Jayvie Agojo in a three-hole playoff for the girls crown, Sato was not in the mood to let his closest pursuers threaten his bid for a wire-to-wire victory.

Sato got the job done in convincing fashion as the expected final-day charge of Shih Kai Lo of Chinese Taipei fizzled out and it was Thai boy Chinarat Padungsil who checked in second in the 82-hole tourney jointly organized by the Asia-Pacific Junior Golf Confederation and the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines.

Sato finished at 292 with Chinarat wounding up at 296 after a similar even-par 72 effort. Chi had a 73 for 301.

Justin Limjap was the best Filipino finishers at 11th place out of the 33 entries in the event supported by Fil-Estate Manila Southwoods through its chair Bob Sobrepeña and the Department of Tourism.

Laurence Negrido finished tied for 13th, Miko Alejandro tied for 16th, Jasper Braga followed him at 18th.

Amalia Montecillo, secretary general of the Confederation, expressed relief with the way the event turned out.

"It couldn’t have been possible if not for the full support of our neighbors in Asia and the Pacific which sent their best entries despite the concerns on security not just in the Philippines but in Southeast Asia," said Montecillo.

Jungolf president Merwin Mediana, for his part, added that despite the local jungolf body’s limited resources, they were able to pull off a big international tournament like the Asia-Pacific Jungolf Masters which featured participants from 12 countries.