Ortolani hangs tough in stretch to pull out 1-shot victory

Michele Ortolani —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Hanging tough in the face of numbing back-nine pressure, Michele Ortolani drained three birdies in that stretch, counting the marginal one on 16th that highlighted a three-under-par 69, as the Italian snapped a decade-long international dry spell by winning the $100,000 BingoPlus Philippine ADT Open at Luisita in Tarlac.

“I’m still in the process that my name is on top (of the leaderboard), finally,” the 29-year-old Ortolani said after holding off the hard-charging Su Ching-Hung of Chinese Taipei by a stroke. “I’m still a little bit speechless … it’s been 10 years since I’ve won, I’ve won internationally.”

Starting the day a shot behind Argentina’s Pablo Scorzato, Ortolani made the turn at even before making all three of his back-nine birdies in the first seven holes as he waxed emotional after dropping the final putt for a 272, even as Sean Ramos and Angelo Que wound up as the best Filipinos in the crack field.

The 22-year-old Ramos finished in a tie for fifth spot after a 71, finishing with somewhat of a wobble after bogeys on the 13th and 17th for a 277, with Que, Ramos’ new short game teacher, closing out with a 69 to finish another shot behind in a three-man group that also had Naoki Sekito of Japan and Malaysia’s Marcus Lim, who shot a 71 and 72, in that order.

Ramos, who opened up his final round bid trailing Galven Green by four, crept within a shot after his fourth birdie that came on the 12th, only to drop a shot on the next and lose a lot of momentum he had built.

“(I) just got cold again in the middle (of the round),” Ramos, who also earned a slot to the $2 million Philippine Open set at Manila Southwoods Masters in November, said. “I was really having trouble making putts (since the first round). But I am still happy with the way I played.” INQ