Miñoza sputters at finish, trails by five

A double-bogey mishap on the final hole dropped Frankie Miñoza down the leaderboard in the rich Japan PGA Championship as the ace Filipino shotmaker struggled with a 73 at the start of the $110,000 event in Fukuoka, Japan yesterday.

It was a start Miñoza had least expected to dish out four days after he topped the Fujisankei Classic in Togo although his two-over card at the par-71 Queen’s Hills Golf Club didn’t put him too far behind the leaders with a three-under 68 proving to be the day’s best score.

American Dean Wilson led the charge with a 35-33 card which was later matched by Taiwanese Chin Sheng-hsieh (32-36) and Satoshi Higashi (34-34) and Kenichi Kuboya (34-34) of Japan.

Apparently trying to overcome the pressure of coming up with a fine round after his last Sunday’s victory, Miñoza bogeyed two of the first three holes, made a slew of pars on the next five before holing out with a birdie on the ninth for a 37.

A birdie on No. 14, a bogey on the next and another on the 16th gave Miñoza an even par card until he dropped two strokes on the final hole and slid to a share of 31st place with eight others.