Dabawenyo Tony Lascuna roared with an explosive windup at the front with a 31 en route to a six-under 66 as he slipped past erstwhile joint leaders Juvic Pagunsan and Miguel Tabuena for a three-stroke lead halfway through the rain-interrupted $50,000 ICTSI-Mt. Malarayat Championship at the Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City, Batangas, Friday.
Lascuna bounced back from a missed-green bogey mishap on No. 12 with back-to-back birdies from No. 13 then sizzled at the front with five birdies in the last six holes, including three straight from No. 7, that put the dusky shotmaker way ahead of the field at eight-under 136.
“I made a lot of putts and played some great irons shots,” said Lascuna, a perennial runner-up on the ASEAN PGA Tour still in search of the big one.
But the big ones are also in hot pursuit of the top $8,126 purse in this second leg of the ASEAN PGA Tour with Pagunsan and Tabuena, who shared the lead with a pair of 68s in the rain-suspended first round, slowing down with another pair of 71s despite improved weather conditions for 139s.
“In the morning I played great but it was hard going in the wet conditions. The course is playing long but as the greens are soft it means you can attack the pins. I just didn’t strike it so well in the second round,” said Pagunsan, who had four birdies against three bogeys after a bogey-free 68 in the rain-suspended opener.
Dutch Guido Van der Valk, another perennial contender on the local tour, and Mars Pucay, winner here in 2007, both fired 69s to join Pagunsan and Tabuena in second while four players, led by Jhonnel Ababa, stood at 140, four shots adrift of Lascuna.
Ababa, the former amateur hotshot seeking a breakthrough win on his rookie year like Tabuena, matched Lascuna’s flawless 31 at the front as he shot a 67 for joint sixth with another rookie pro Jerson Balasabas, who carded a second straight 70.
Thais Thanyakon Khrongpha and Panuwat Muenlek also stayed in the title hunt with a 70 and 71, respectively, as they tied Ababa and Balasabas in sixth place heading into the last 36 holes of the event sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
After two days of rains, the weather improved a bit although the field still played under overcast skies and preferred lies rules with 57 players making the cut at 150, including Cassius Casas and Benjie Magada, who barely advanced to the weekend play with 79-71 and 77-73, respectively.
Arnold Villacencio, joint third in last week’s ICTSI Eastridge Classic of the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour, turned in a 69 for joint 10th with amateur Jobim Carlos, carding a 70, at 141, while Carito Villaroman, who fired a bogey-less 69 in the first round, fumbled with a 73 and dropped to 142 in a tie with Erwin Arcillas, who made a second straight 71.
Jay Bayron, joint ninth in the Pattaya Open, the first leg of the ASEAN PGA Tour, rallied with a 69 but stood too far behind at 145, nine strokes off the 40-year-old Lascuna.
With only half of the surviving field expected to finish the third round at presstime, the rest will resume theirs at 7 a.m. today (Saturday) with the final round firing off at 7:30 a.m., according to rulesman Henry Arabelo.
The tournament is backed by MJ Carr Golf Management, Inc., Srixon, Callaway, Unilab, Titleist, Sharp, Custom Clubmakers, Mizuno, PinoyGolfer.com, Inquirer Golf, A Round of Golf, Studio 23, Balls, and Dynamic Sports.PR
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