Filipino golfers Tumble to ninth

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines struggled under tough playing condition and skied to a 17-over 233, tumbling down from fourth to ninth place halfway through the Nomura Cup at the Namseoul Country Club in South Korea yesterday.

Antonio Asistio II atoned for his first round mishap where he didn’t count with a 78 as he carded a three-over par 75 that proved to be the team’s best score in another challenging day at the wind-raked par-72 layout.

Asistio, the 19-year-old member of the ICTSI golf squad, could’ve turned in a lower score if not for a bogey-bogey finish, nearly negating his three-birdie string from No. 12 that put him back into the groove after a 40 opening.

Reigning national champion Mhark Fernando, who failed to hit a birdie in a 76 round Tuesday, gunned down only one in the second round against four bogeys and a triple bogey on the final hole.

Peter Villaber, who also opened with a 76, had a birdie-less round of 80 which counted as first round top scorer Jhonnel Ababa, who had a 73 Tuesday, made 10-over 82 and didn’t count.

The Calatagan bet closed out with three straight double-bogeys to typify his awful round of 39-43.

With a 36-hole aggregate of 458, 26 over, the Filipino bets, whose stint in sanctioned by the National Golf Association of the Phils., slid to ninth, enabling regional rivals Thailand and Malaysia to move up with solid outputs.

Korea, with MH Kim firing a 69, continued to stamp its class at home with a three-under 213 for a 425 and a six-shot lead over Taiwan, which had a 431 after a 215. Japan climbed to joint third with China (227) at 448 after a 219 while Thailand bounced back with a 219 to grab fifth place at 449.

Malaysia moved up to sixth with a 452 after a 218 while Pakistan (225) and five-time champion Australia (229) were in joint seventh at 456.

With Ababa slipping from joint sixth to 34th in the individual race, Asistio emerged the top Filipino scorer at joint 25th with a 153 while Fernando shares 29th place at 154 and Villaber in joint 35th at 156.

Kim grabbed the solo lead in the individual competition with a 139, two ahead of Taiwanese FH Yang (70) and CY Hung (71), who both had 141s while another Korean, CW Han gained fourth with a 142 after shooting one of the day’s two best scores of 69.