THE year ended the right way for Davao-native, Tony Lascuña, as he grabbed Player of the Year honors in the recently-concluded ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour.
Lascuña took the crown in the final leg of the circuit, the ICTSI Wack Wack Invitational, by nine strokes, capping off a successful campaign this year where he won a total of three legs and had five runner-up finishes. He wound up with P2.5 million in winnings, beating 2009 OOM winner Elmer Salvador by more than P500,000 in a dominating stint that included victories at ICTSI Eagle Ridge Invitational and Manila Southwoods.
Like the rest of the top guns, Lascuña missed four legs before the star-studded Wack Wack stage to campaign on the Asian Tour but came back strong to rule the tour’s richest leg which offered a top purse of P450,000. He was also the top Filipino player on the Asian Tour at No. 12, was also unanimously voted by his fellow pros as the year’s top player, completing a rare sweep of both the OOM and the Players’ Player of the Year honors.
John Kier Abdon copped the Best Amateur award while Canlubang Golf and Country Club, represented by golf director Rolly Viray, was named Venue of the Year during the annual awards rites of the circuit. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio