Juvic finishes 2nd in Singapore Am

Juvic Pagunsan lost in an early duel with local bet Choo Tze Huang, settling for a closing even-par 71 card and a runner-up finish in the Singapore Open Amateur Championship at the Bukit Course of the Singapore Island Country Club yesterday.

Pagunsan, who earlier powered his partnership with last year’s individual champion Michael Bibat to the team crown Thursday, banged in a birdie on his opening hole in the final round to break out of a three-way tie with Huang and Artemio Murakami. But the 26-year-old top Filipino shotmaker bogeyed the next two to yield the lead to Huang but birdied No. 5 to draw level.

Disaster, however, struck Pagunsan as he dropped four shots in the next three holes, including a double-bogey mishap on No. 8, giving Huang a four-shot lead which the Singaporean used as a cushion to the Filipino bet’s fightback in the last 10 holes.

Pagunsan finished with a 71 and a 283, two strokes behind Huang, an 18-year-old find who sizzled with a 69 for a 281.

Murakami, the solo leader in round 2, fumbled with an opening hole bogey with the former national champion failing to recover his touch the rest of the way. He took third place honors with a 285 after a 73.

Bibat, who ran away with last year’s crown despite a closing 77, closed out with a 73 and wound up down in joint 17th place with 295.

Despite Pagunsan and Murakami’s failure to complete an RP sweep, the Philippines still came out with the best performance in the four-day event which drew 10 nations, including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, the country’s top rivals in the coming SEA Games in Manila.

The RP team’s stint in Singapore was supported by Enrique Razon and sanctioned by the National National Golf Association of the Philippines as part of their preparation and training for the 23rd SEA Games slated Nov. 27-Dec. 5.