Pagunsan sizzles with 67 but pals fizzle out

KUALA LUMPUR (Via Globe Telecoms) -— Juvic Pagunsan bucked the galeforce winds and all the hazards offered by the Jack Nicklaus-designed Sungai Long Golf and Country Club course, fashioning out a near-flawless round of five-under 67 to show the way at the start of the 21st SEA Games golf competitions yesterday.

Pagunsan, winner of the Canlubang Open at home before flying here a week before the start of the Games, strung up six birdies against one bogey in a stirring display of shotmaking that gave him a three-shot lead after the first 18 holes of play in the 7,015-yard, par-72 layout.

The short but sturdy Negrense went one under in the front nine before collecting birdies on hole nos. 12, 15, 17 and 18 in a swashbuckling backside stint that propelled him to the top in the opening round of the golf individual play which also serves as basis of the seeding in the team competition set Sept. 15-16. From stroke play, the tournament shifts to match play in the team championship.

Going into the second round, Pagunsan is three up on Thailand’s Pariya and four on Malaysia’s Sivachandran and Indonesia’s Indra Hermawan.

The other Filipino bets are nowhere near the Magic Three with Joselito Zaragoza limping with a 77, Marvin Dumandan an 81 and Jay Bayron an 82.

Zaragoza had only one birdie against four bogeys and a double-bogey, Dumandan had fat 8s on two par-5s while Bayron also had two triple-bogeys, including his seven on the par-3 No. 17 where he was assessed a two-stroke penalty for not replacing the ball in its original spot on the green.

The three just couldn’t keep in step with Pagunsan, who narrowly missed a bogey-free round as he went out of bounds on No. 5.

Outside of that hole, Pagunsan reached all the greens in regulation, except on No. 8. Still, he rescued par from the rough before shooting a birdie on the next hole for a 35 at the turn.

"Malakas ang hangin. Gumagalaw nga ang club head sa back swing. Buti na lang maganda pa rin ang patama," said Pagunsan, a veteran internationalist, including the World Amateurs in Munich last year.

Pagunsan said the No. 5, a 586-yard straight par-5, is proving to be his waterloo in the course. He said he made a 12 and a 9 on the same hole in practice rounds prior to the tournament.