Fitting finale: Constantino hangs tough, closes season with a bang

DAVAO CITY — Running low on motivation after an exhausting season that had taken her to nearly 20 tournaments, Harmie Constantino appeared to have little left in the tank.

But when the final round demanded one last fight, the multi-titled campaigner found a fresh reserve of resolve — and turned a potentially wild, down-to-the-wire finish into a commanding two-shot triumph in the season-ending Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) event here on Thursday.

Constantino overcame a two-shot deficit, shrugged off an early miscue and ignited her charge with a string of birdies, including three straight from No. 5. What initially shaped up as a volatile duel for the crown gradually tilted in her favor as she stayed patient, kept her shots under control and watched her chief rival falter under pressure.

She closed with a 69 for a 54-hole total of 213, capping a stirring comeback that belied her recent admission that the grind of a long campaign had drained her motivation. By the finish, she had transformed a tight leaderboard battle into a two-shot victory over Korean Kim Seoyun, who faltered with a 73 and a 215.

The turnaround was all the more striking given how the final round began. Kim, tied with Chanelle Avaricio after 36 holes, initially seized control despite opening with two bogeys, answering with three consecutive birdies from No. 6. Avaricio, meanwhile, stumbled with three bogeys on the front nine and never recovered.

Avaricio faded with a 76 and dropped to joint third at 218 with Yvon Bisera and Princess Superal, who shot 71 and 74, respectively.

Constantino, playing in a separate flight, began to make her move with her birdie run from No. 5. As the contenders traded blows, the prospect of a dramatic finish remained very much alive. But the complexion of the championship changed on the back nine, where Constantino’s steady play contrasted sharply with Kim’s unraveling challenge.

Kim bogeyed three of the first four holes coming home, opening the door for Constantino to stretch her lead to as many as three strokes. The Korean managed a birdie on the final hole, but it was too little, too late to prevent Constantino from securing the title.

For Constantino, the victory was less about a sudden swing change than a decision to trust her game and resist the temptation to force the issue.

“I think it’s a hard question,” she said when asked how she had summoned the energy to contend after admitting she was exhausted and had run out of motivation following a season of close to 20 tournaments.

“I think I just tried to fight through it. I saw that I was hitting it well and I had a good chance. So, I just kept trying to fight through it,” she said.

Asked what had changed to help her rediscover her form, Constantino pointed not to a major adjustment but to patience and discipline.

“Not, not a lot of changes. I think I just stayed very, very patient. I didn’t force a lot of shots and I didn’t really force hitting pins and, you know, that stuff. So, yeah, I think that’s what helped a lot today,” she said.

Even as her game clicked into gear, the eventual victory came as a surprise.

“Yeah, a bit. I didn’t really expect it since I wasn’t really contending this morning. But I stayed patient throughout,” she said.

“It feels good to win again. I’ve been working on my game,” added Constantino, who thanked Empire, Titleist and Transview Elite, along with her parents, for their unwavering support and belief in her.

The victory, worth P162,500, was her second in the season, following her runaway triumph at Caliraya Springs, and provided a fitting finish to a campaign in which she had to contend not only with the demands of competition but also with her own doubts and dwindling drive.

Meanwhile, Yvon Bisera, who had already won legs at Lakewood and Pradera Verde, produced one of the day’s defining moments with a hole-in-one on the 165-yard No. 17 using a pitching wedge and Pro VI ball. The ace, worth P20,000 from the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc., helped her salvage a 71, finish in a tie for third at 218 with Superal and Avaricio, who missed her bid for back-to-back closing titles after topping the South Pacific leg last week.