MANILA, 29 May 2006 — After battling tremendous heat and conquering a tough course, it was quite understandable to see Scott Strange grinning from ear to ear.
The 29-year-old Australian completed a wire-to-wire win pulling away, giving his pursuers no chance with a closing 2-under-par 70 yesterday to pocket the 90th Philippine Open by five and downplay his dominance of the crack field.
“It was pretty exhausting, the weather and all,” said Strange, after the tournament played to desert-like temperatures which baked Wack Wack East and made the dreaded layout more difficult. “But it was worth it.”
The Perth-based Strange, who had at least a share of the lead in all four rounds, tallied 280, eight-under-par, and his five-shot victory over young Korean Jun Won-park was the largest margin of victory in the Asian Tour this year.
Park came jumping out of nowhere, shooting a 67 in the morning to finish with a 283 total and second place to himself as Chang Ting-yeh, the 1993 champion who teed off just a stroke back, shot himself in the foot with a 75.
No one was able to keep up with Strange on a day when local hopes Cookie La’O and Juvic Pagunsan were expected to make last-ditch moves.
Instead, La’O faltered and dropped to a share of eighth place after a 75, while Pagunsan could not really get it going and settled for a level 72 and 288, good for joint sixth and still the highest finish by a Filipino here.
And it was Strange who had complete control of the field - and the course - as he got his total to 10-under with seven holes to play, his bogeys on 15 and 17 hardly making a dent on the impending outcome. “I had a birdie on the first (hole) and that dictated my day,” Strange, who moved up to No. 10 in the Order of Merit with earnings of close to $150,000, said.
It was the second victory on Tour for Strange, who admitted to being at home in the carabao grass fairways of the East course. His first win, which came in Myanmar Open last year, also came in a similar course — the Yangon Golf Club. Pagunsan fired at every pin whenever possible, trying to take a positive outlook into the round after he had blown away his chance on Saturday by dropping five strokes in his last three holes and letting Strange slip out of his sights.
From being just two down late in the third round, Pagunsan teed off yesterday with a six-shot deficit staring him in the face. He did not have much success in the final round, fortunate to get it back to even with a birdie on the par-4 15th hole.
Even Yeh, an experienced veteran, crumbled. His three-putt from 22 feet on the 18th summed up his day, the miss proving to be an expensive one as he missed tying Park for second place.
Tied for third after Saturday, La’O first bogeyed No. 9 after finding the rough off the tee. He wound up tied for eighth along with Aussies Gary Simpson (72) and Jason Dawes (70).
Marvin Dumandan won low amateur honors, firing a 74 for 296 to hold off Jay Bayron (79) by four. Michael Bibat wound up third with a 301 after shooting a 75 yesterday.
Gerald Rosales, the 2000 champion at Riviera and second placer last year, submitted a 71 and shared 12th spot with S.S.P. Chowrasia (73) of India and Adam Porter (74) of Australia with 290 tallies. They won $3,176 each.
Angelo Que ballooned to a final round 76 for 292 along with another notable, 2002 winner Rick Gibson, who fired a 75.
This tournament will be the Asian Tour’s kickoff leg starting next year with the purse also to be increased to $500,000, making it one of the premier events. Wack Wack will also be the host for the next two years, at least.
