Pagunsan flattens field with fiery 69

CANLUBANG, Philippines  – Juvic Pagunsan went on a late birdie-binge to negate a flawed start, saving a second straight 69 and finally seizing the solo lead over Elmer Salvador in a rain-hit third round of the rich The Country Club Invitational at the TCC course here yesterday.

Pagunsan, slowed down by morning rains, recovered from a disastrous double-bogey mishap on No. 1 with an impressive run of three birdies from No. 14 for a closing 32 and a 69 that thrust him to the top at 208 and kept him on track for a third crown in the P4.5 million event.

On a day the lead changed hands as fast as the putting surface of the dreaded par-70 layout, Pagunsan kept his temper in check, grinding out a delicate birdie putt on the long No. 8 to offset a bogey on the seventh before coming up with that three-birdie string to put himself on a very familiar place.

He whisked off halfway joint leader and lady amateur Jayvie Agojo, who succumbed to pressure against the top guns in the featured flight and hobbled with a 74-213, and toppled Salvador, who also shot a 69 for a 209.

Salvador pounced on an early Pagunsan miscue and went two-up from a three-shot swing with an opening hole birdie but yielded the lead with bogeys on Nos. 6 and 8. He grabbed the lead again with a birdie on No. 12 but failed to match Pagunsan’s fiery finish and dropped to second.

“I had my chances to at least tie him (Pagunsan) or grab the lead but I just couldn’t capitalize on them,” said Salvador, who sank a long putt from 40 feet on the 17th to salvage a 69, in Filipino. “But I like where I am, just one stroke behind him.”

Carl Santos-Ocampo joins the fancied duo in the championship flight today, also after a 69 for a 211, losing grip of the lead he had wrested after a brilliant eagle feat on the 14th that capped a stirring four-under card in a three-hole stretch from No. 12.

Agojo, the spearhead of the ICTSI ladies golf squad who showed up the elite field in the first round with a 69 and shared the spotlight with Pagunsan halfway through, succumbed to pressure when paired against Pagunsan and Salvador, bogeying three of the last five holes for that 74 and a 213.

Former champions Cassius Casas and Tony Lascuna stood seven strokes off Pagunsan at 215 after a pair of 71s but the lead could be overhauled at the TCC although the duo would need to shoot in the low 60s to pose a challenge to a player as talented as the reigning Asian Tour No. 1.

Rufino Bayron, five shots behind the leaders at the start of the round, threatened in the early going with two birdies in the first four holes. But the former national team standout, who won a pro tournament as an amateur in the revival of the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour in late 2008, floundered when the going got tough, bogeying four of his last 12 holes for a 72. He ended up with a 216 in a tie with Mars Pucay, who also had a 72, and Angelo Que, the defending back-to-back champion in the event put up by ICTSI chair and CEO Ricky Razon in honor of his late father, ICTSI founder Don Pocholo.

Que finally hit his stride after a pair of so-so rounds of 75-73, ramming in five birdies against three bogeys for one of the day’s two best scores of 68. He could’ve shot better and moved a little closer if not for his late bogeys on Nos. 15 and 18.

“I’m still not giving up and giving my best always,” said Que, who also won in 2007.

Artemio Murakami, winner here in 2009, stumbled with a 73 and dropped to a tie with Frankie Miñoza, who had a second straight 72, Anthony Fernando, who rallied with a 68, and the other lady amateur Dottie Ardina, who shot a 71, at 217.

With Pagunsan fumbling with a 6 on No. 1, Salvador banged in a birdie-putt from eight feet to surge ahead only to reel back with flubbed par-putts on Nos. 6 and 8. He stormed in front again with a birdie on the 12th but failed to match Pagunsan’s birdie-splurge from No. 14.

Santos-Ocampo shook the leaderboard in a flight ahead with his own version of brilliancy, birdying No. 12 and 13 before gunning down an eagle on the 14th. But he gave up the lead just as quickly, dropping strokes on Nos. 15 and 16 to settle for a 33 and 69.