BACOLOD—Maybe for the first time in the last decade or so, Manila Southwoods is not the hands-down favorite in the pretournament talk of the 76th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub.

Eastridge, because of a lineup that has all but one of the players that finished a fighting second last year in Mindanao, has that distinction this time here, and team leader Gary Sales can only agree.

“Maybe because we are intact,” Sales, the ex-tee boy turned big-time businessman, told the Inquirer in Filipino. “But we still have to put that to use on the course. We still have to perform.”

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Action starts at tree-lined Marapara (Negros Occidental Golf Club) on Tuesday with the middle two rounds to be played in Binitin (Bacolod Golf Club). The final round will be on Friday.

Five of six

The squad added young Vito Sarines into the roster that also has Rolando Bregente, Edison Tabalin, Ronel Taga-An and Jeff Lumbo, the 27-year-old ace from Saranggani who is looking to take an Interclub title when he turns pro after this week.

“We were also toughened by the painful loss we took last year,” Sales went on. “We learned a lot of lessons from that and we hope to put it to use this time.”

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The winner of five of the last six editions, Southwoods, meanwhile, lost three players because of various commitments but plucked champion ex-pro Jerome Delariarte from retirement.

The former two-time national champion and The Country Club titlist has been tapped to provide poise and stability to the young Carmona-based squad that will be led by Zeus Sara, Shinichi Suzuki and Perry Bucay. INQ