Pucay, Que second, reach World Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Mars Pucay and Angelo Que qualified for a second straight year in the World Cup after a closing round of one-over 71 and a solid four-day haul of 270 in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup Asian Qualifier at the Seri Selangor Golf Club in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia yesterday.

The Filipino pair had a chance to top the qualifier but settled for second place on a double-bogey on the closing hole of the foursomes final round.

“It didn’t matter if we finished first, second or third. What mattered was that we qualified for the World Cup. It was a relaxing feeling,” said Que.

“There was no pressure for us. We just wanted to hit it on the fairway on every hole. And that’s what we managed to achieve and we are happy and excited making it into the World Cup again,” said Pucay.

Que and Pucay are making a return stint in the prestigious event where they finished inside the Top 10 last year.

In the final round of this qualifier, the Filipinos recovered from an early bogey with an eagle on the sixth hole before dropping shots again with double bogeys on the 10th and 18th holes to finish a shot behind eventual winner Singapore

 Lam Chih Bing and Mamat Mardan secured their fourth World Cup appearance together after a closing 72 for a four-day total of 15-under-par 269.

Muhammad Shabbir and Muhammad Munir shot a three-under-par 68 for 274, becoming the very first Pakistan duo to qualify for the World Cup.

Pakistan beat the host by two strokes for the third and last WC slots disputed in the tourney.

A World Cup appearance continued to elude the Malaysian pair of Iain Steel and Danny Chia as they ended fourth after a 71 with Myanmar finishing three strokes further following a 74.

 “Pakistan have played in the cricket World Cup, hockey World Cup and squash World Cup but never before in our history that we’ve been in golf’s World Cup. We are in there for the first time and hopefully we will be able to perform well in China,” said Munir, an Asian Tour regular.

 “I don’t know how to describe how we feel right now. I’m sure everyone in Pakistan will be very happy,” he added.