Hernandez, Sarines take national Strokeplay victory laps

Lisa Sarines is in a class all her own in ladies play. —NGAP PHOTO

Jet Hernandez and young Lisa Sarines have all but sewn up titles in their respective National Strokeplay Championship divisions, and will be coming out for the final round Saturday to basically do victory laps and prepare themselves for a sweet double next week.

And it is something that was in their sights right from the start.

“I want to win both. I’m not gonna hide that,” Hernandez said when asked of the possibility of winning two titles in two weeks, as he heads to the Match Play Championship at Luisita the odds-on favorite after opening up an 18-shot lead heading into the final 18 holes of the strokeplay tournament at Pradera Verde.

“But I still have to go out there (on Saturday) and play well,” the 21-year-old said after submitting an eagle-aided three-under-par 69 for a 54-hole 199 aggregate that leads Rolando Bregente, who shot a 75, by an astounding 18 strokes. “It will still be the same mindset as in Day 1—stay committed, be calm and stay in the present.”

Sarines, on the other hand, opened up a 15-shot lead over Tashanah Balangauan after a similar 69 as she moved on the cusp of the biggest victory of her young career and has all the confidence she needs to win the title she wants most.

“Coming into this week, what I really want to focus on is to win the Match Play (title),” Sarines had told the Inquirer after taking the lead in the first round with a 70 on Wednesday. “Not that this isn’t as important, but I really have my eyes set on that.

“But I will give it my all to win this one,” she added as she takes a 54-hole 211 aggregate into the fourth round on Saturday, where everyone else in the field at the wide-open Pinatubo layout has been reduced to a battle for second place.

Balangauan fired a 77, and Princess Zaragosa is trailing another five shots back—20 behind Sarines—also after a 77 as no one in the ladies division after Sarines came close to matching par on a humid day.

Hernandez spiked his round with a gorgeous 8-iron from 172 yards for his approach on the par-5 ninth, which landed a little below 20 feet from the cup. He calmly nailed the eagle try to highlight a hot stretch bridging the two nines, No. 8 to No. 11, which he played at three-under.

“This week has been a bit crazy,” Hernandez said with a slight laugh. “I was telling my day that this is going to be a low-scoring week. But if you told me that I would be 17-under after three rounds, I would have said you were crazy.”