Lumbo returns to happy place, defends crown
Jeff Lumbo comes to South Pacific having a string of close shaves in the Philippine Golf Tour the past month. Good thing that well-manicured layout in Davao is one he can consider his happy place.
The long-hitting native of Sarangani will defend his first and only pro win starting next week in the P2.5-million ICTSI South Pacific Championship as he tries to put behind several weeks of coming up agonizingly short, counting the recent stop at Pueblo de Oro in Cagayan de Oro.
The first leg in Mindanao had Lumbo tugging at the coattails of the leaders in the first three rounds, only to close out with a whimper at Pueblo, where he uncharacteristically returned a 75 marred by a triple bogey 8 on the 15th to finish eight shots out of Rupert Zaragosa’s winning 268 total.
A seaman’s degree holder, Lumbo also had a triple bogey on the 17th in the second round. He also doubled the same hole the day before but still fired a 68 to be just one shot behind after the opening round.
He remains very dangerous heading into the 72-hole tournament after gunning down 16 birdies at Pueblo de Oro, which can be considered tougher than South Pacific, which is more of the wide-open type of a layout.
Zaragosa will be shooting to win back-to-back titles for the first time in his career, even as Keanu Jahns and Zannie Boy Gialon will aim to finish the job next week after finishing a stroke behind the pint-sized Zaragosa in CDO.
