Amateur Bayron nips Delariarte in playoff

Amateur Rufino Bayron parred the tough No. 18 twice, the last edging pro Jerome Delariarte in sudden death and netting him the ICTSI Valley Challenge crown at the Valley Golf Club’s south course in Antipolo yesterday.

Bayron, priming up for the World Amateurs late this month, made a par on the 230-yard par-3 18th in regulation for an eagle-spiked 70 then watched Delariarte fumble with a bogey for a 72 to force a playoff at 215.

Bayron played pressure-free in sudden death, hacking his 4-iron tee-shot on the green.

It was Delariarte who appeared to have cracked under pressure as he dumped his tee shot into the bunker guarding the green and blasted to about 20 feet and missed his par-putt bid.

Bayron, a mainstay of the star-studded ICTSI amateur stable, left his first putt short by about four feet then calmly sank the next to clinch the championship and become the first amateur in nearly two decades to capture a pro event.

Bayron’s victory came almost two decades after Cassius Casas topped the National PGA at Luisita as an amateur in the early 1990s. And he fashioned it out right on the first tournament of the revival of the pro circuit put up by the InternationaI Container Terminal Services, Inc.

It just might be the sign Bayron is waiting as he is deciding on turning pro after his amateur commitments this year with the national team and the ICTSI stable where he belongs for the Fil-Am championships in Baguio.

In a topsy-turvy final round that saw second round co-leader leader Elmer Salvador tumble in the back nine, Bayron made his move with that two-under card and Delariarte closed out with an even par round to end up tied after 54 holes.

Delariarte, however, took the top purse of P164,000 with Bayron settling for the championship trophy.

“I’ll have my chance to win the prize money someday. I’m just happy that I achieved something for myself, my family and the ICTSI team,” Bayron said.

Salvador led by as many as four strokes after 45 holes with a birdie on No. 9 to go three under for the day and five under for the tournament. But the Davao native faltered coming home, bogeying the 10th and dropping four straight strokes from the 13th.

He finished with a 74 and wound up tied with Rey Pagunsan (71) at 216, both failing to get into the playoff by just a stroke.