Pagunsan hikes edge to two

CANLUBANG — One could just imagine how Juvic Pagunsan would beat the field with a solid putter.

Pagunsan, steady as rock from the mound to the fairways in another wind-blown day here at The Country Club, proved shaky on the greens and fumbled with three three-putt bogeys, settling for a third straight 71 but hiking his overnight one-shot lead to two in the third round of the P4 million The Country Club Invitational yesterday.

The 27-year-old Pagunsan, eyeing to become the first player to win a local pro tournament on his very first try, moved nearer to that goal as he continued to dominate the elite field with his fine display of shotmaking that saw him hit all but one greens in regulation. And if not for three-putt mishaps at the front that negated his two birdies, he could’ve pulled away from the pack and put a lock on the juicy P1.2 million top purse.

He made a slew of pars at the back, watched Artemio Murakami sputter in the last three holes then held a gritty Bisera in check to save a round of 36-35, enabling him to build a two-stroke lead over former champion Cassius Casas and Bisera with a 213 heading into the final 18 holes of this tournament.

"Putting is the key here. If it clicks...I don’t know," said Pagunsan in Filipino.

Pressure could be another factor as Casas, who won the inaugural event in 2003, is expected to provide the challenge to the former many-time amateur champion whose stirring romp in the SEA Games here last December made him the player to watch in the richest event outside the Philippine Open.

Casas also failed to tame the terrors lurking on the sleek greens and also came out with three three-putts for a 37-34 and a 71. But he liked where he was at the end of another grueling day — in second place at 215, two strokes back, and in a tie with Bisera, who had a 72.

"The wind was not as hard as it was in the second round. But the pin placements remained tough," said Casas in Filipino.

When asked of his chances against Pagunsan in their highly-anticipated duel for the crown, Casas said that he will play it smart and then hope for the best.

"Since we’re both aggressive, I think it will depend on how we will approach each challenge on each hole," he stressed.

Bisera, for sure, will try to provide one.

Refusing to crack when ranged against Pagunsan and Murakami, Bisera fought back from a bogey-bogey mishap from No. 15 with a birdie on the par-3 17th to salvage a two-over card and stay just two strokes off Pagunsan.

"I will just play my game and see what happens," said the soft-spoken Bisera in Filipino.

Murakami, one down at the start of the day, birdied the opening hole to tie Pagunsan and kept it level through the next eight holes. But the burly former youngest national champion, also eyeing a victory on his first local pro tournament, wavered on his homeward trip, dropping four strokes, including a double-bogey 6 on No. 16 where he overshot the green, missed it the second time and two-putted.

Worse, he three-putted the next for that 39 and a 74 for a 218 and solo sixth.

Defending champion Jerome Delariarte and the fancied Frankie Miñoza, who actually lost in the countback at 151 and missed the cut Friday but salvaged spots in the weekend play after golf patron Ricky Razon decided at the last-minute to include ties, fired the day’s best rounds of two-under 68s in the first two flights.

That enabled the duo to leap from last to the middle of the standings with identical 219s, in a tie with Carito Villaroman, six strokes off the pace, a very manageable deficit on a course that continues to bedevil the pros with its character and form.