5-man clash looms as Que stumbles

CANLUBANG – Juvic Pagunsan and Tony Lascuña charged back with 68s, Ferdie Aunzo turned in a bogey-free 69 and Marvin Dumandan holed out with a bogey for a 70.

With first day leader Angelo Que fumbling with a two-over 72 on another tough day at The Country Club, five players tied for the lead, marking the first time in a long while that the rich TCC Invitational produced a crowded leaderboard.

With Frankie Miñoza just behind by two after a 73, the chase for the top P1.4 million purse is indeed headed for a weekend thriller among the fancied players in the fold.

“If anyone could end up at even par after this tournament, he would not just win here, he would win running away,” said Pagunsan in Filipino.

Pagunsan, a two-time winner here via a playoff and in runaway fashion, fought back from an opening 75 with a two-under 68 for a 143, putting himself in contention for a record three victories in the P4.7 million event.

“And if I can keep it up, I think I’m on target,” said Pagunsan.

With playing conditions tipped to get more difficult in the final 36 holes, the smooth-swinging Pagunsan need not only to keep it up but must also play it tough against a bunch of rivals out to foil his bid.

Lascuña, for one, will try to duplicate his impressive stint at the back where he holed out with three straight birdies, including the challenging par-4 18th for a tournament-best 32.

“This is going to be a real battle. All the big names are up there and the course is playing tough as ever,” said Lascuña, winner here in 2005, in Filipino.

Four behind Que at the start of the round, Lascuña seized a two-stroke lead when he made the turn only to reel back with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 4. Que, who opened with a one-shot lead over Miñoza, Elmer Salvador and Omar Dungca in the first round, tumbled down after making three bogeys in a birdie-less stint at the back. But the defending champion, who beat Pagunsan by five last year, picked himself up at the front with a birdie on No. 5 while parring the rest of the holes to salvage a two-over card.

“I was bothered by the tougher pin placement,” said Que, who went straight to the practice green to polish his stroke. “I would need it in the last two rounds.

“I think it will go down to putting,” said Que, seeking to become the first back-to-back winner of what has become a golfing major.

Like Lascuña, Dumandan sizzled at the backside with a 33 but the three-leg winner in last year’s ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour lost his touch at the front with two bogeys and missed the chance to grab the solo lead.

Aunzo, meanwhile, shot the tournament’s first bogey-free round, a one-under 69 he spiked with a birdie on the par-3 No. 17, putting himself in contention for the season’s first golfing jewel.

Miñoza hit back-to-back birdies from No. 12 to atone for his bogey mishap on No. 10 from where he started. But the former two-time Philippine Open champion, who is set to compete in the US Seniors Champions Tour, got slowed down by a double-bogey on No. 4 and bogeys on Nos. 6 and 8 to settled for a 72 and a 145.

Andrea Unson, winner of the recent Philippine International Junior Golf Championships, surged ahead in the amateur side with a 72, tying Miñoza in sixth and posting a three-shot lead over ICTSI teammate Dottie Ardina, who had a 71, and erstwhile co-leader Lovelynn Guioguio, who skied to a 77, who both had 148s in a tie with pro Jun Bernis, had a 73.

Dungca stood a shot farther back at 149 after a 77 in a tie with Michael Bibat, who made a 76, while Artemio Murakami, winner in 2009, turned in a second straight 75 for a 150 for joint 14th with Orlan Sumcad, who had a 72.