Ababa's 73 lifts RP team to fourth

MANILA, Philippines - Jhonnel Ababa shot a gutsy one-over par 73 but the Philippines settled for a nine-over 225 for fourth at the start of the Nomura Cup paced by host South Korea at the Namseoul Country Club in South Korea yesterday.

Ababa, back in the team after missing the Putra Cup tilt last month, made an impressive start of two birdies in the first three holes and gunned down three more in the next 12 but fumbled with two bogeys and two double bogeys for a 37-36 card.

He was one-under heading into the 18th but dropped two strokes on the par-4 hole for a 73 as he slid to joint sixth in the individual competition of the biennial event also known as the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship.

Koreans M.H. Kim and JH Yoon and Taiwanese CY Hung all fired two under par 70s to post a one-shot lead over another Taiwanese FH Yang, who carded a 71, in the individual race while KH Lee, also of Korea, matched par 72.

But while Ababa, playing out of Calatagan, turned in a decent card, the three other RP bets, whose campaign is sanctioned by the National Golf Association of the Phils., floundered with reigning national champion Mhark Fernando and Peter Villaber limping home with four-over par 76s and Antonio Asistio II groping for form and didn’t count with a 78.

Korea, third the last time out in Taiwan, set in motion its title bid as it pooled a four-under 212 for a four-stroke lead over Taiwan in the four-to-play, three-to-count format event with Yoon and Kim leading the charge with 70s and Lee adding a 72.

So solid were the hosts that CW Han failed to count with a 73.

Taiwan, behind Hung’s 70, Yang’s 71 and CH Hsieh’s 75, matched par 216 while China, with W. Wei shooting a 73, WY Wang and XJ Zhang carding a pair of 74s, assembled a 221 for third.

Australia, which ruled the last five stagings of the 21-nation event, struggled with a 227 while Thailand, which romped away with the Putra Cup crown at home, sputtered with a 230.

After an opening 40, Villaber, member of the ICTSI golf squad, fought back with two birdies in the first seven holes at the back but double-bogeyed the par-3 17th for that 76.

Fernando, who had hoped for a big start after coming off a big victory in last week’s pro tournament in the ICTSI Riviera Classic, wavered with four bogeys with no birdie to show in a 37-39 round.

Worse was Asistio, one of the players tipped to score for the team, who had six bogeys and a double bogey against two birdies in a 40-38 round.