Villaroman finally breaks through, moves up to No. 3
Thinking better when the pressure was at its highest, Zach Villaroman on Thursday finally broke through in the ICTSI Junior PGT circuit after shooting a three-over-par 75 to win the boys’ 15-18 of the Pradera Verde Championship and break into the number of players seeing action in the Elite Finals.
The 17-year-old Zach, son of the great Carito Villaroman, tallied a 54-hole 218 as he finally won on his sixth try in the trailblazing circuit, staying in third spot as only the top four players will advance to represent Luzon in the Ryder Cup-style finals in October.
“It feels great to finally have a breakthrough after six legs,” said Zach, whose father Carito won the second of his two centerpiece boys’ 15-18 Junior World titles in 1986 by 11 shots at the expense of Phil Mickelson.
“It took a while because my course management wasn’t at par with the others,” he said. “But once I was able to fix that, my game really improved.”
The win, worth 15 points, put Villamoran in third with a 37-point total heading into the final leg at Camp John Hay in Baguio. Only Patrick Tambalque (45 points) and Shinichi Suzuki (39) are ahead of him in the chase for North spots heading into the Summer Capital leg.
Jose Carlos Taruc closed out with a 76 for second, seven shots behind, while Kristoffer Nadales was third after a 77 and claimed temporary hold of the No. 4 spot with 32 points. Taruc will come to Baguio running fifth with 30 points.
Meanwhile, South Korean Seeun Pak slowed down with an 85 but still won the girls’ side handily over local standout Tiffany Bernardino.
Pak had a 249 total over 54 holes and won by 17 shots over Bernardino, who returned an 89.
Bernardino’s runner-up effort solidified her hold of the No. 4 spot in the series standings with 30 points, while Chloe Rada stayed in third with 32 points behind leader Rafa Anciano (45) and No. 2 Levonne Talion (39).
