Delariarte, Saragoza fight for Open crown

SILANG, Cavite — Master of sudden death.

Toughened by his two previous escape acts rarely seen in amateur play, Jerome Delariarte pulled off another cliffhanger of a win yesterday, this time edging Marvin Dumandan with a delicate par-putt from eight feet on the first playoff hole for a 1-up victory to reach the finals against Boyet Saragoza in the Philippine Amateur Golf Championship at the Langer course here.

That gem of a stroke was indeed laden with pressure which Dumandan, a brawny player who calls the Riviera golf complex his home course, failed to withstand as he cracked up while trying to sink in a match-tying sidehiller from a relatively shorter distance of six feet which rolled past the cup.

"That’s golf, you can never tell what will happen," said Delariarte, who needed four extra holes to beat Jonard Rates in the first round Thursday and wore down arch rival Juvic Pagunsan on the second playoff hole in the quarterfinals Friday.

Delariarte found himself on the brink again yesterday, falling by three holes with four to go, and like in the past, steeled himself up in the bone-crunching stretch to wipe out that deficit and force the sudden death — a stage he seemed to be very comfortable with.

"I wasn’t at my best but after falling 3-holes down, I told myself that I have to beat him in every hole," added Delariarte, referring to his bogey on No. 14 which gave Dumandan a 3-hole advantage.

Unlike Dumandan, Saragoza sustained a fine start and outplayed former national teammate Jay Bayron the rest of the way for a 3 & 2 victory in the other semifinal matchup of this event staged by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and sponsored by DHL, Philippine Sports Commission, WWWExpress and DHL Worldwide.

The championship is a 36-hole affair with Delariarte and Saragoza teeing off at 7:10 a.m. today after the 7 a.m. battle for third place between Dumandan and Bayron.

Although momentum is on Delariarte’s side and despite reaching the finals for only the first time in four tries, Saragoza remained confident of his bid and vowed to give the defending champion a tough time, hinting the duel could go down-to-the-wire.

"Maganda ang palo at short game ko kaya sa tingin ko sa putting na lang magkakatalo ito," said Saragoza, a two-time member of the national team to the Putra Cup and the Southeast Asian Games.

Playing out of Cangolf, Saragoza went 3-up after seven holes before settling for a 2-hole lead at the turn. He birdied No. 10 to hike his lead then thwarted Bayron’s own birdie on No. 15 by racking up another hole to preserve the victory he dedicated to his family.

Delariarte, whose exploit was also witnessed by his parents, including his dad, who came in from Manado, Indonesia, appeared to have found the tormentor in Dumandan, a golf marshall here who seized the upperhand early on, took a 1-up lead heading into the last nine holes before birdying No. 13 to go 2-up.

But just when Dumandan thought he had heard the last of Delariarte, the Southwoods bet came charging back with a birdie on No. 15, and a couple of scrambling pars on the next two to draw level. Both players parred the 18th to extend the match.

With the pressure mounting, Delariarte and Dumandan missed the green in sudden death with the former dumping his second shot into the bunker and blasting to a pin-length high and the latter barely reaching it and pitching to within six feet.