BY JIMMY CANTOR

BACOLOD — He should have signed for an X, indicating he had picked up the ball, when he made a double-bogey on the par-4 hole No. 2 at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club, as required under tournament rules.

Instead, 18-year-old Zanie Boy Gialon made the rookie mistake of signing for a six and defending champion Canlubang was docked two points.

This infraction marred what should have been a perfect start for Canlubang Wednesday in the 61st edition of the Philippine Airlines Interclub golf tournament here although the team from Laguna still opened up a three-point lead over perennial rival Manila Southwoods.

The lead should have been five, at 132-127, as Canlubang skipper Luigi Yulo initially thought when first-round play ended. A review of the scorecards, however, revealed Gialon, making his Interclub debut, failed to comply with a tournament rule requiring players to pick up after making a double bogey to speed up play.

"It hurts, but we have to live with it," said Yulo, who got 36 points from Jonel Ababa, 34 from Joey Huerva, 32 from Mario Labajo and 30 from Peter Villaber.

Gialon ended the day with 27 and did not count but his rookie mistake may tell on the team if an expected tight title duel with Southwoods materializes.

Action shifts to the Negros Golf and Country Club Thursday, with Southwoods expected to hung on to the coattails of Canlubang and keep the score close going to the final round.

Southwoods, which beat Can-lubang by two points for the crown three years ago, got 35 points from Gene Bondoc, 34 from Tonton Asistio and 31 from Jun Jun Plana.

Benjie Sarmiento counted with 27, a point better than Miggy Yee’s output.

Yulo refused to let Gialon’s infraction bother him, however, saying: "It’s good enough. As long as we get something, no matter how small, it’s satisfactory."

Canlubang is gunning for its 14th Interclub title to complete a three-peat double following its smashing victory in the seniors’ event last weekend in the tourney backed by Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, GE Aviation, MTV Philippines and Solar Sports as platinum sponsors. Also backing the event are Action Asia, Business Mirror, Crossover, PACSPORTS, Royal Caribbean, Fortune Tobacco, GECAS, MasterCard, People Asia, RMN, Bombo Radyo, Callaway Golf, Century Park Hotel, Lufthansa Technik and Patio Pacific Boracay.

Former champion Del Monte amassed 123 and was running third in the championship division on the 33 of Arsenio Mondilla, 31s of Banny Abanio and Leonard Lofranco and 28 of Romeo Jaraula while Forest Hills was a distant fourth at 98, followed by Manila Golf at 97 and Brookside at 93.