Casas hurdles 1st stage; Pucay trails by 3

PENSACOLA, Florida – Cassius Casas went to his short game when his driving and putting began to sputter as he overcame tremendous odds in regulation before bucking the pressure in the playoff to move into the second stage of the US PGA Tour Qualifier at the Pensacola Country Club course Friday (Saturday in Manila) here.

On the brink of elimination with two holes to go in regulation, Casas hit a solid 8-iron approach shot on the 17th for a tap-in birdie and a closing one-under-par 71 (290) and a spot in a six-man playoff for the last four slots in the top 20.

Then ranged against five long-hitting Americans in the first extra hole, Casas hit an errant drive that sliced into the woods. He missed the green and looked headed for home after his rivals reached the par-4 hole in two.

But the 34-year-old Filipino shotmaker came up with a spectacular chip shot that rolled within inches of the cup for a tap-in par, a shot that enabled him to send the playoff to another hole, a par-3, where he struck a superb 7-iron tee-shot to within four feet for birdie.

Casas eventually finished 18th place to make the top 20 and advance to the second stage of the gruelling qualifiers slated Nov. 7-10 in Texas.

"I didn’t want to be an alternate. If I did, I’d rather go home and save myself the possibility of waiting for nothing," said Casas. "I may have gotten lucky on a few holes, but I should have easily made it anyway if not for my poor driving and putting."

Casas, who spent no less than $5,000 of his own money and resources to make it here, thus joined the 20 qualifiers from this side of the various qualifying venues all over the United States – a feat almost snagged by his struggling 76 in the first round.

Sven Struver of Hamburg, Germany took the No. 1 spot with a 277 after a 68 while three-day leader Rod Perry slowed down with a 74 for 278.

Casas’ group at 290 actually shared the 17th to 22nd places. The two players who lost in the playoff were relegated to alternates..

Over in Thailand, Marciano Pucay sizzled with a 66 as he moved in contention for the rich Lexus International crown heading into the final round of the Asian PGA Tour event at the Windmill Park Country Club in Bangkok.

Sustaining the momentum of his solid 68 in the second round, Pucay rattled five birdies in the first 12 holes then gunned down back-to-back birdies from No. 15 to negate a missed-green bogey on the par-4 14th to tally a 54-hole aggregate of 207.

That was three shots behind the tandem of Englishman Simon Dyson and South African Nico Van Rensburg, who showed the way with 204s after a 68 and a 69, respectively.