'Other' Pagunsan slips to 4th after a 73

MANILA, Philippines - Rey Pagunsan faltered with a one-over par 73 and dropped three strokes off a charging Mardan Mamat of Singapore halfway through the Mercedes-Benz Masters Singapore at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club in Singapore yesterday.

Just one shot behind first round leader Lam Chih Bing at the start of the day, Pagunsan struggled early with missed green bogeys and had to scramble for pars to salvage a 73 for a two-day haul of 141.

That was three shots behind Mamat, who turned in a second straight 69 for a 138 to grab a one-stroke lead over Lam, who failed to sustain his fiery 67 Wednesday with a 72 for a 139.

A stroke farther at 140 was Thai Namchok Tantipokakul, who also matched par 72, while Pagunsan was joined in fourth with last year’s winner Pariya Junhasavasdikul of Thailand and Siva Chandran of Malaysia, who both fired 70s, and Malaysian ace Danny Chia, who made a 71.