Yoshikazu Hino and Shinichi Suzuki joined hands for 64 points and inched closer to the overall gross championship while JJ Atencio and Jake Ong zeroed in on the overall net crown after three days of the Southwoods Invitational at the Masters and Legends course late Friday in Carmona, Cavite.
Hino and Suzuki sustained their impressive 84-point output under the Best Ball format at the Masters with a 64-point effort in Aggregate format at the Legends, giving them a 148 total in overall gross race of the 36-hole tournament spread over four days.
The duo actually kept the Division I lead with a 156 total from 66 and 90 efforts at Legends and Masters, respectively, with the last of the two batches still to complete play in the tournament at press time Saturday.
Kenneth Kim and Ronnie Quimbo stood at second in the overall gross competition with 145 points (67 at Legends and 78 at Masters) while the King Stehmeier-Marvin Caparros tandem posted a 129 (57-72) for third.
Dodie Puno and Monet Garcia assembled a 155 (73-82) to stay behind the Hino-Suzuki pair in Division I and could bag the category title if the Hino-Suzuki tandem goes on to claim the overall gross championship in the event which offers premium prizes for hole-in-one feats, among them a Mitsubishi Triton GSL A/T and a Toyota Raize.
Other prizes include an Alaska cruise for two with round-trip tickets for seven nights, a three-night stay at Hamp Court Palace with two round-trip tickets, a Smart Vogue Plus Ogawa Massage Chair, and P100,000 worth of free play credits at Newport World Resorts.
If no one hits an ace, all prizes will be raffled off during awards rites late Saturday.
Atencio and Ong, on the other hand, put up a 175 total from 79 at Legends and 96 at Masters to lead the chase for the overall net crown, posting a huge seven-point lead over Gene Ynion and Armando Salva, who had a 168 (74-94).
Other division leaders in the event, backed by Gold sponsors Federal Land, Inc. and The Turf Company, are Kim and Quimbo (Division II), Hector Villanueva and Fernand Tizon (Division III), Ynion and Salva (Division IV), Atencio and Ong (Division V) and Jayson Yu and Manny Santander (Sponsors/Guests).
Kim and Quimbo scored a 164 (76-88) for a one-point lead over Arlette Raquino and Vicky Herrera, who posted a 163 (67-96); Villanueva and Tizon had a 167 (73-94), four points clear of Dexter Lim and Pablo Roman, who had a 163 (71-92).
