Ally Gaccion (second from left) celebrates with supporters —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Ally Gaccion hugged the limelight in the final round of the ICTSI Junior PGT Series at Pueblo de Oro on Thursday as she closed out with a six-under-par 66 to rule the girls’ 15-18 by 17 shots over Crista Miñoza and Zero Plete.

Alexis Nailga actually bagged a hat trick in the boys’ division, winning by seven shots over Armand Copok with a 221 total after a final round 73, but the way Gaccion blitzed the field on the final day made her the story of the week after she cracked par for the second straight round.

“My putter was really on fire, and I hit my approaches close,” said Gaccion, who drained seven birdies in total. “I wasn’t really expecting to shoot this low, but I felt really good, especially with how I was sinking almost every putt.”

Plete wilted in the face of Gaccion’s brilliance, dropping five shots in a five-hole stretch from the 10th to wind up with an 81, with Miñoza checking in with an 80 as both wound up with 226 tallies.

Nailga, who also won at Mactan and then at Del Monte in Bukidnon last week, has all but secured his slot in the Elite National Finals in October at the Country Club in Laguna where the North battles the South standouts.

Copok fired a 69 to surge from seventh to second at 228, edging Zamboanga’s Mhark Fernando III, who placed third at 229 after a 75.

Copok’s strong finish, following his third-place effort at Del Monte, also put him firmly in the running for a slot in the national finals of the series organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

“It’s a great feeling to score a three-peat. I now have a strong chance of making it to the national finals,” said Nailga, a protégé of golf legend Frankie Miñoza.