Former champ Murakami mutes big guns in opener

The youngest player to have won the Philippine Amateur Golf Championship is at it again, going great guns this early as he set in motion his bid for a second crown five years after he stunned a stellar field at Wack Wack.

But Murakami, 20, will have to sustain his solid start of 35-34 at Villamor yesterday which he highlighted with five birdies to virtually assure himself of a berth in the next phase where play shifts from medal to match beginning Thursday.

The top 32 players after 36 holes of stroke play competitions will advance to the match play event with the championship slated for 36 holes on Sunday.

The fancied bets, led by the duo of Juvic Pagunsan and Marvin Dumandan, played just well enough to be in the top 10 with the fancied pair carding identical 75s for a share of sixth to 12th places with Jose Mari Hechanova, Jun Jun Plana, Boyet Saragoza, Raffy Garcia and Laurence Negrido.

With Pagunsan and Dumandan holding their guns, Greg Laguatan, an unheralded bet from Valley, took second spot with a 70 while Louie Dacudao of Lanang came in third with an even par round of 72 in a late afternoon flight.

Club bet Jan Tambugon somewhat flashed his familiarity with the flat but long and challenging layout as he shot a 73 for fourth in the event staged by the National Golf Association of the Philippines. Bong Brobio stood a stroke adrift with 74.

Pagunsan, who placed fifth here in the recent Julio Cup, a pro tournament, went two-under after five holes, sparking hopes of an explosive start from the most fancied player in the fold. But the Canlubang bet wavered in the next 12 holes, dropping six strokes, including a double-bogey mishap on the par-4 9th, and needed a closing birdie to salvage a 37-38 card.

Like most of the players, Dumandan also birdied the par-5 No. 2 but the Riviera bet, who is coming off a second place finish in last week’s Saujana Open in Malaysia, struggled the rest of the way and settled for another 37-38 round.

Jun Bernis, winner of the DHL Open in Canlubang early this year, was also well within reach of the match play event despite limping with a 76 as he took 13th place followed by Dave Hernandez, Hanson So, Jr., Tristan Tabanas, Michael Bibat and Gino Bunyi, who all had 77s.