Lipa City, Batangas—Joenard Rates battled back from six down to force a playoff with a closing six-under 66 then out-steadied Janne Kaske of Finland on the second extra hole to snatch the Philippine Golf Tour Asia’s Summit Point World 18 Challenge crown here yesterday.
On a course designed for the big hitters, the diminutive Rates leaned on his big fighting heart, coming through with a sizzling start and putting up a strong finish that netted him a pair of 33s four flights behind the championship group to tie Kaske at 12-under 276.
Kaske outduelled third-round leader Micah Shin and Elmer Salvador in a pressure-packed finale and finished with a 70 but missed clinching it outright with a flubbed birdie putt on the par-5 16th.
Rates and Kaske traded birdies, not a par on the first playoff hole but the Filipino bet finished off the Finnish on their third trip on the par-4 18th, two-putting for par then watched his rival miss the green and miss a playoff-extending par putt from 10 feet.
“It’s all hard work, resiliency and patience,” said the 5-foot-3 Rates, whose length off the tee has often put him at a disadvantage against the tour’s long hitters.
But he proved this week that it isn’t all about power, rallying from a 72 start with a 67, spiked by seven straight birdies from No. 12. He slowed down again Friday with a 71 and fell six shots off Shin but produced a near-solid closing round behind superb iron game and putting to nail what was only his second victory in a 14-year career.
“I just played it cool and tried to ride the pressure in the playoff,” said Rates, who beat multi-titled Tony Lascuña at John Hay for his first tour victory in 2014.
But his second victory, worth $17,500, in this seventh leg of the region’s newest circuit put up by ICTSI more than washed away all the heartbreaks of his fruitless campaign in the past four years.
It, however, added to Kaske’s frustrations after the 34-year-old shotmaker now based in Bangkok moved tantalizingly close to a breakthrough win in five appearances in the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
He parred the first playoff hole from the long range but failed to shake off Rates, who showed guts in sinking a pressure-laden putt from six feet.
Kaske then wavered a bit on their third return to the 18th, hitting it short off the green from 160 yards off a 9-iron shot, 30 feet off the cup, came up short by 10 feet on his first putt and muffed his par-putt bid.
Rates also pulled off a 9-iron and hacked his approach to within 10 feet, missed it but calmly sank a title-clinching three-footer to the delight of the big gallery which included his wife Je-Ann.
Macedonian Peter Stojanovski, who tied for second in the ICTSI Luisita Invitational two weeks ago, shot a 69 but missed forcing a three-man playoff with a 277 while Shin cracked under pressure and limped with a 74, slipping to joint fourth at 278 with Nilo Salahog, who rallied with a 68.
Salvador also hobbled with a 73 and dropped to joint sixth with American John Michael O’Toole, who fired a 69, at 279 while Keanu Jahns placed solo eighth at 280 after a 72 and Japanese Yuta Sudo and Jobim Carlos tied for 10th at 281 after a 70 and 72, respectively.
