De la Rosa nears title; Apo earns solo lead

Wack Wack’s Ruben de la Rosa birdied the final hole yesterday to shoot another subpar round and grab the individual lead with one round to go in the 14th Uratex National Caddies Championship.

Apo Golf and Country Club, on the other hand, scored a third round 220 to take the solo lead in the team event of the tournament.

Antonio Depelo paced Apo with a 71, Ranel Glimada contributed a 74 and Elmer Saban added a 75. They start today’s final round at 657 with a two-stroke lead over defending champion Wack Wack.

De la Rosa’s eight-foot birdie putt gave him a one-under par 69 to go with his earlier rounds of 73 and 68 for 210 and a two-shot cushion in the tight race for the tournament’s most coveted crown.

Mt. Malindang’s Ronnie Sarigumba matched De la Rosa’s 69 despite three-putting twice and sending his ball into a watery grave on the pond guarding the 15th green to take a share of second place at 212.

Tied with Sarigumba is the surprising Kagitingan Golf Club campaigner Joenard Rates, a son of former touring professional Joe Jr., who also came up with a 69.

That earned them a final flight pairing with De la Rosa today in the battle for the first prize of P75,000 in gift certificates plus a color television set.

Toti Olandes, the second round leader and De la Rosa’s teammate, played the Valley Golf and Country Club’s par 70, 5,396-yard Executive course with a 73 to go down to fourth at 214.

"Sana ito na (I hope this will be it)," De la Rosa sighed as he again moved into scoring position to finally nail down the elusive championship, when he placed second in 1997 and 2000.

Businessman Robert Cheng launched the event at Capitol Hills to give the country’s bag toters their own national championship, help them financially and discover talent.

He did not stage the event last year for personal reason but he resumed it at Valley this week in coordination with the First Gentleman Foundation Inc. headed by Mike Arroyo.

If the battle for the men’s individual crown promises to be a cliffhanger today, so does the race for the team title, which also carries the same prize of P75,000 and a TV set.

Wack Wack, which is seeking its second straight title and fourth in five years, came up with 222 to settle for a piece of second place with Mount Malindang at 659.

Negros Occidental collected 224 to take the next slot at 666 while host Valley came up with 215 to place fifth with 667, followed by Philippine Navy 218-670 and Lumbia 225-673.

Philippine Navy’s Pedro Elardo scored a 75 to take fifth place in the men’s individual event with 217 while Glimada’s 74 was good enough for sixth place at 219.

Rodrigo Marabe of Negros Occidental and Nueva Ecija Golf Club’s Zaldy Arinque came up with similar 76s to share the seventh and eighth places at 220.

Completing the top 10 teams are Nueva Ecija Golf Club eighth with 222-677, Iloilo Golf Club ninth 224-678 and Del Monte Golf Club 10th 223-680.