Rey flashes wondrous putting

TAGAYTAY — For a player noted for his long-hitting ways, Rey Pagunsan came through with knockdown shots he complemented with a steady putting touch to tame the winds and the tricky greens of Tagaytay Midlands as he fired an eagle-aided 67 to seize a two-shot lead over Ruben Sasutil at the start of the 11th leg of the First Gentleman’s Professional Golf Circuit yesterday here.

An eagle-putt he cooly sank from eight feet on the par-5 18th underscored Pagunsan’s impressive stint on the tricky, untested putting surface of the quaint par-72 layout that proved to be too tough a challenge for most of the fancied men of the tour with the cool winds blowing from all over.

But Pagunsan took the challenge as if it was only a breeze.

"Putting lang ang maganda, pero para umiskor ka sa course na ito, kailangang matutunan mo ang knockdown shots dahil sa lakas ng hangin na sobrang lamig," said Pagunsan, who earlier knocked down five birdies inside seven feet from solid approach shots that negated a couple of bogeys for a 34-33 card.

With the big guns struggling with their games under windy conditions, Sasutil took the early challenger’s role as he shot his own version of 69, a 35-34 round he spiked with two scrambling pars and a closing tap-in birdie.

Among the three double-leg winners in the circuit bankrolled by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and San Miguel Beer and organized by the Federation of Golf Clubs Phils., Inc., only Benjie Magada managed to turn in an under-par round, a 70 that put him three shots behind Pagunsan.

Power-hitting Cassius Casas, coming off a thrilling win — his second — in last week’s leg in Del Monte, fumbled with a 73, still trying to adjust his game on a course where emphasis is more on iron play.

Mars Pucay, who pulled off back-to-back victories at the expense of Casas at Rancho Palos Verdes and Pueblo de Oro, was a shot farther back at 74 in the company of Dan Cruz, Ramon Brobio, Rodrigo Cuello, Felix Fernando, Noli Kempis and Davidoff Tour campaigner Danny Zarate.

Unfancied Rey Alit and Roger Cabajar shared fourth place with identical 71s while Eddie Bagtas was all alone at 72.

A curling birdie from 16 feet on No. 4 set the tone for Pagunsan’s explosive day as the wiry pro, who last won in the MRT-Southwoods Open two years ago, knocked down back-to-back birdies from No. 6 although his bid was slowed down by a missed green bogey going out.

But Pagunsan, whose best finish in the circuit was fourth in the kickoff leg at Sta. Elena, put his irons and trusted putter to good use again as he sank another pair of birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, both from four feet.

Unlike Pagunsan, Sasutil had a fumbling start — a bogey on No. 3 — but the 37-year-old shotmaker fought back with birdies on Nos. 6 and 8, saved pars from Nos. 12 and 13, banged in another birdie from four feet on No. 16 before holing out with that gimme birdie.