Paulino Fernandez and Gene Sison engineered a huge second -round rally by holing in a couple of clutch birdies and a run of pars in the last few holes to complete their come-from-behind victory in the 31st Bill Shaw Golf Classic held at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.
After scoring 44 points in best ball format at the East course and needing at least an 89 in aggregate at the West to win outright, Fernandez and Sison came through with an 88 that tied them with former COMELEC chairman Ben Abalos Sr. and partner Zaldy Carpeso at 132 total apiece.
However, when the tiebreak rule was applied, Fernandez and Sison were awarded the overall championship crown because of a lower team handicap in the highly anticipated invitational event, where 800 players joined this year.
Still, Abalos and Carpeso won the title in the Seniors’ 1 division of the two-day tournament presented by San Miguel Corp., Shell and Yakult, with support from Chronos and D&L (platinum sponsors) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (diamond sponsor).
Not to be outdone was the tandem of Oliver Gan and junior standout Rianne Malixi, the 12-year-old, who won the Match Play Championships in January. They assembled 157 (West) and 151 (East) for a 308 total to grab this year’s trophy for the overall team gross category.
Other winners, who were awarded by the Wack Wack Board, led by its President Lawrence Tan, were Brainard and Edmund Hao (Group 1), Lutgardo and John Frederick Cruz (Group 2), Wilson Ng and Edgar Allan Pasion (Group 3) and Reuben Lista and Gaudencio Morales (Seniors 2).
Jose Roman Ozeata flashed a big smile, too, as he brought home a Lexus UX200 F-Sport—a P3.108 million prize for his hole-in-one at the East’s No. 8. He used a Tour B JGR Hybrid 4 and Taylor Made #77 ball. His flightmates were Peter Tan. Leroy Ang and Edward Ang.
Aside from the beautiful trophies, the Bill Shaw Classic gave away fabulous raffle prizes, including a Toyota Vios that went to Don Lee; a Mitsubishi Mirage G4 to Romulo Santos; and a sporty BMW C-400 Motorcyle to Wilson Tecson.
Meralco, RGB, Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, Stradcom, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines, First Sunday Group, DDT Konstrakt, ICTSI-PGTI, Asia Traders Corp., Peerless Products, Resorts World Manila, EVA Air, Moven Pick, GG&A Clubchares, VMJ, Boysen and 3D Northern Islands were the other backers.