Phl golfers rarin’ to end long Putra Cup drought

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines, backstopped by a pint-sized Filipino ace and a pair of Fil-Ams, primes up for next week’s Putra Cup at the Sherwood Hills Golf and Country Club in Cavite, confident of finally ending a long 17-year title drought in the annual event it used to dominate.

Winner of 17 championships in the event also known as the Southeast Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship, the Filipinos struggled in the last 17 years with so-so finishes, including in 2007 when it failed to make full use of the proverbial home court advantage.

But with Rupert Zaragosa in top form coming off a pair of victories in the last three weeks and Fil-Ams Rico Hoey and Jonathan delos Reyes raring to strut their wares, things are looking up for the Filipino bets.

“Seventeen years? That’s as long as I have been on this earth,” said Hoey, when told of the country’s title slump. “That’s quite a long time and it’s time that the spell ends for us.”

The Philippines won three straight titles from the event’s third staging in 1963, racked up six victories in row from 1968, then posted another three-straight romp from 1981. The Filipinos also won in 1975, 1987 and 1990.

But after scoring back-to-back wins from 1995-96 in Malaysia and Myanmar, respectively, the Philippines went on a slump with Thailand emerging as the new power with 10 titles in the last 16 stagings, including last year in Jakarta.

Delos Reyes, 19, said he is more than motivated than pressured to help deliver the crown for Team Phl, which also includes US-based Jobim Carlos.

“It’s not pressure, it’s just given us added motivation,” said Delos Reyes. “We have a solid team here. For us, we just want to get it on. We’re excited and I hope the country is excited, too.”

Zaragosa, 15, beat Hoey by eight in last week’s Philippine Amateur Closed Championship, also at Sherwood with the Fil-Ams expected to have familiarized themselves with the tough layout by now.

But Thailand remains the team to beat in the four-to-play, three-to-count format event with Singapore and Malaysia also fancied to contend for the crown.