Silang, Cavite— Rey Pagunsan hit a late birdie at the front to card a one-under 70 to catch Jhonnel Ababa at the helm, one stroke ahead of a mix of aces that stumbled at the finish at the start of the windy ICTSI Riviera Golf Challenge here yesterday.
Pagunsan, a former member of the national team seeking an end to a long, title drought, made just one other birdie against a bogey at the back but spiked his 34-36 card with eight scrambling pars at the unreceptive greens that proved as the norm at the exacting Langer layout.
Ababa actually blew a three-under card in an early start with two bogeys in the last four holes then watched a number of bidders surge and plunge with shaky finishes in hot, tough conditions.
“The wind was strong and the greens don’t bite. I was lucky to have shot a 70,” said Ababa, who won the last Philippine Golf Tour Asia event with a successful title-retention feat at Pradera Verde last January.
“The course is tough and the strong wind made it tougher, especially for the late starters,” said Rey Pagunsan, who only three times (Aguinaldo, Midlands and Southwoods) in 22-year pro career.
Seven players churned out identical even par 71 outputs, including fancied Juvic Pagunsan, Ira Alido, Jerson Balasabas, Rolando Marabe, Tony Lascuña and Elmer Salvador and American Lexus Keoninh, while eight turned in 72s and a host of others stood just a stroke of two behind in a kind of wild start expected at the hazard-laden, rolling par-71 course.
Juvic Pagunsan, priming up for next week’s Solaire Philippine Open like majority of the rest, mixed three birdies with the same number of bogeys while saving pars six times that he went out of regulation, putting himself in early contention for a follow-up to his victory in PGT Bacolod last year.
Englishman Joshua Grenville-Wood, who missed the cut twice in his three PGTA stints while withdrawing due to injury in the other, drew level par with a pitch-in eagle on the par-4 No. 15, only to bogey the difficult closing hole to drop to 72 in a tie with compatriots Matt Killen and David Benjamin, Korean Hwang Myung Chal, Spain’s Marcos Pastor, Peter Stojanovski of Macedonia, Dutch Guido Van der Valk and local bet Reymon Jaraula.
Angelo Que, who rallied to finish tied at 25th in last week’s Maybank Championship in Malaysia, rebounded from a two-over card with birdies on Nos. 7, 8 and 10. But the power-hitting Filipino ace bogeyed No. 14 and dropped two strokes on the par-4 18th for a 73.
Other two-over par scorers in the $100,000 event serving as the penultimate leg of the 2018-19 Philippine Golf Tour Asia second season and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. are Ferdie Aunzo, Mars Pucay, England’s George Twyman and Thais Chonlatit Chuenboonngam and Piya Swangarunporn.
Only the top 50 plus ties after 36 holes will advance to the last two rounds of the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Empire Golf and Sports and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc.
