Corpus, Katsuragawa coast to 6-shot NGAP doubles romp

MANILA, Philippines - Carl Corpus and Yuto Katsuragawa kept the momentum of their solid play in aggregate format and shot a four-under 64 in foursome yesterday to cruise to a six-stroke victory over Ryan Monsalve and Lanz Uy in the sixth NGAP National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club in QC.

Katsuragawa, who keyed the team’s surge with a 65 Thursday, and Corpus combined for five birdies against a lone bogey, virtually settling the outcome with a 33 at the front before matching Monsalve and Uy’s closing 31 for that 64 to run away with the Group I crown with a 54-hole total of 265.

Monsalve and Uy wound up with a 66 and settled for second at 271, Jelbert Gamolo and Gab Manotoc matched par 68 to grab third place at 278 and first round leaders Ira Alido and Paolo Wong wound up fourth at 281 after a 72.

Corpus and Katsuragawa opened with a 66 in fourball and fell by four behind the hot-starting Alido and Wong, who fired a 62, but the former pooled a solid 135 in aggregate play to storm ahead in the event sponsored by the PLDT Group, the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart and Metro Pacific Investment Corp.

Monsalve and Uy, who started the final round four strokes behind, pressed their final round bid with a birdie on No. 1 but reeled back with a double-bogey mishap on No. 6, needing to birdie the ninth to save an even par 35.

Meanwhile, Corpus and Katsuragawa birdied No. 2 to restore a four-stroke lead and went six-up with a birdie on the par-3 No. 8 before gunning down two more birdies at the back to underscore their solid partnership in the tournament held as part of the National Amateur Golf Tour and hosted by CAGC.

Raymart Tolentino and Carlo Villaroman carded a 69 and tied brothers Jolo and Jonas Magcalayo, who hobbled with a 73, for fifth at 285; Bianca Pagdanganan and Diana Araneta turned in a 70 for seventh at 292; while Carlo Gatmaytan and Tomi Arejola ended up eighth at 296 after a 75.

Paqo Barro and Joseph Orbito skied to a 77 and finished ninth at 298 while Harmie Constantino and Gabriel Macalaguim combined for a 76 and ended up 10th with a 299.

Meanwhile, Matthew Abalos and Don Petil completed a wire-to-wire triumph in Group II, closing out with a 77 for a 294, five shots ahead of Riggs Illescas and Pierre Ticzon, who had a 299 after a 78. Adrian Romero and JP De Claro rallied with a 79 and tied Josh Jorge and Gilbert Purcia, who wavered with an 86, at third with 308., while the Lester Lagman-Zedi Lagman and Derrico Dimaunahan-Steven Ferrer’s tandems shared fifth at 309 after a 73 and 78, respectively.

Ricky delos Santos and Bobby Arcillas likewise capped their domination of Group III, pooling a 300 and beating Vic Se and August Cruz, who pooled a 79 for a 212, by 12 despite a closing 82.

Eddie Bagtas and Bobby Iñigo took third place at 313 after an 83 while the Ricardo Velasco-Ramon Capistrano and Eric Si-Eric Villarica pairs took the next two spots at 315 and 335 after an 82 and a 95, respectively.