Mars Pucay shot a five-under-par 67 and turned what was expected to be a tight finish into a four-shot victory in the ICTSI Tournament Players’ Championship at Southlinks Golf Club yesterday that ended a three-year winless spell.

Mars Pucay holds the championship trophy after winning the ICTSI Players Championship at Southlinks Golf Club in Las Piñas yesterday.

Pucay highlighted his round with a chipped in eagle on 14th that finally separated himself from the chasing pack led by overnight co-leader Jun Rates who settled for second place after firing a 71.

The win was just what Pucay needed to regain his confidence as he struggled both in the local ICTSI Tour and on the occasions he competed in the Asian Tour where he almost always missed the cut.

“I’m so happy to regain my confidence,” said Pucay, whose campaign is backed by Emcor and Mesaland. “I really wanted this win. It feels nice to be a champ again on a different, challenging course, which suits my game.”

Pucay kept his rivals at bay with a two-under-par 34 on the front nine and then birdied the 10th to pull farther away.

But it was not until he buried a chip-in eagle on the par-5 No. 14 that he knew he had the elusive title – and the top P650,000 purse – in the bag.

“The turning point was my chip-in eagle on the 14th which gave me a five-shot lead over Rates. So I just played it safe – fairway, green and two putts,” said Pucay, whose closing 34-33 card gave him a 72-hole total of eight-under 280.

It was Pucay’s first victory since the ICTSI Iloilo Challenge crown in 2012.

Rates, tied for the lead with Pucay and Jame s Ryan Lam after 54 holes, fell by one behind Pucay with a birdie on the seventh but back-to-back bogeys from No. 8 hurt his chances. He parred the first four holes at the back but fell five strokes off Pucay.

His second place finish at 284 netted P430,000.

“I’m more than happy with this runner-up finish,” said Rates. “Mars played steady and didn’t make any mistake. I only got my rhythm at the back but ran out of holes to make any rally so I just decided to preserve my hold of second,”

Mhark Fernando bogeyed the 18th for a 70 tied for third with Ferdie Aunzo and Elmer Saban at at 286 after each fired a 72.

Lam, who birdied the last two holes in the third round to earn a rare spot in the championship flight, cracked under pressure and bogeyed the first two holes and hobbled with a 74, tumbling to joint sixth with Michael Bibat, who matched Pucay’s 67 with a sizzling opening five-under 31, at 287.

Dutch Guido Van der Valk also rallied with a 69 to salvage solo eighth at 289 while Rolando Marabe wavered with a 76 and slid to ninth at 290.

Japanese Yuto Katsuragawa captured the low amateur honors for the third straight leg with a closing 67 as he ended up joint 10th with Miguel Ochoa, who carded a 71, at 292.

Bracing for a shootout, Pucay recalled his fierce form with his trusted 3- and 5-wood off the mound, hitting all fairways and reaching all but two greens to underscore his determined bid to end a long slump on the circuit.

“It’s really very important to hit the fairway from the tee in this course since once you miss it, it will all be struggle. It’s a matter of minimizing your mistakes here. For four days, I just had two penalties which I think was okay given the tightness of the course,” said Pucay.

Rates kept in step with Pucay with his par-game in the first six holes and stayed just within one with a birdie on the par-3 No. 7. But he hit errant drives on the next two holes and closed out the frontside with a 37, enabling Pucay to build a three-shot cushion.

Lam never recovered from his two early bogeys as though he gunned down a birdie on the sixth, he dropped another stroke on the ninth and fell by four.

Saban, Aunzo and Marabe never gained group one flight ahead although Saban played steady with a one-under card after eight holes before bogeying No. 9 and stood three strokes adrift of Pucay.

Aunzo bowed out early with a 40 at the turn while Marabe, who moved into early contention with a bogey-free 68 in the first round, failed to get going with a bogey on the second and made the turn at 37.

Resource: at http://www.mb.com.ph/pucay-ends-title-drought