Lascuña pulls away by 7 in the wind

MANILA, Philippines - Tony Lascuña checked an impending slide with clutch birdies at the back as he preserved a run of under-par rounds with a 71 to stretch his lead to seven over Angelo Que and Elmer Salvador and closer to wrapping up the P2.5 million ICTSI Wack Wack Championship crown and the Order of Merit title at Wack Wack’s East course yesterday.

A day after blowing away the chasing pack with a blistering 67, Lascuña struggled in howling winds and tough pin placements and was lucky to have made a birdie-less stint at the front with just one bogey after missing an eight-footer on the eighth.

But he got going with a birdie on the 10th then added another on the 14th inside four feet, virtually stopping a charging Salvador in his tracks and adding the richest leg of the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour to his victories at ICTSI Eagle Ridge and ICTSI Southwoods.

He pooled an eight-under 208 for a seven-stroke lead over Que and Salvador and 18 holes away from capping a banner year.

“It’s still too early to tell but If I win, it will be my third and it will make this year as my best year since I turned pro,” said Lascuña, who also had two runner-up finishes to seize the OOM lead midway in the season.

Salvador, who started the round eight strokes behind, closed to within four with a fiery 33 but the ICTSI Sherwood and Aboitiz Invitational champion wavered with a closing 37 for a 71 and a 215.

That was the same output put in by Que, who continued to struggle on a tough course he mastered in 2008 when he won the Philippine Open. He hit four birdies but made the same number of bogeys for a 72.

There were no major threats from the other fancied men of the tour, who all struggled in another wind-blown day with Carl Santos-Ocampo, winner at ICTSI Palos Verdes, blowing a solid 32 at the front with a 37 for a 69. He moved up to solo fourth at 216, eight shots adrift.

Zanie Boy Gialon, a two-leg winner like Lascuña and Salvador, fumbled with a 74 to drop to joint fifth with James Ryan Lam, who matched par 72, at 218 while defending champion Frankie Miñoza also failed to sustain a 34 start with a 37 for a 71 for a 219 in a tie with Clyde Mondilla, who made a 72.

By salvaging a 71, Lascuña remained the only player to have scored in under-par rounds, including a lead-sharing 70 with Que Wednesday, and a fiery 67 that put him six shots ahead halfway through.

“If they can’t cut my lead after the front nine tomorrow (today), then this will be mine,” said Lascuña, all set to add the P450,000 purse to his P1.8 million earnings on the tour organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. and sponsored by ICTSI.

The 25-year-old Santos-Ocampo, born in Rhode Island who took up a Finance Degree at Notre Dame before deciding to turn pro and join the local tour two years ago, went on attack mode early as he hit four birdies, including three long, 20-foot putts at the front that brought him back from 10 shots down to within five with still nine holes to play.

But he bogeyed No. 12 after muffing a short par putt then ran into another mishap with a poor wedge shot from 110 yards that went straight into the water for a double bogey.

The Fil-Am, however, closed out with his best shot of the tournament, a 30-footer birdie putt on No. 14.

“It was my best shot of the round, the tournament,” said Santos-Ocampo.

Richard Sinfuego also fired a 71 as he tied Mhark Fernando, who had a 75, at 221 while Juvic Pagunsan, skied to a second 79 in three days and tumbled to joint 37th at 233, 25 strokes behind Lascuña.

The other backers of the event are Empire Golf, Titleist, Footjoy, Callaway, TaylorMade, Mizuno, Srixon, Nike Golf, Custom Clubmakers and Sharp with Balls, Studio 23, Pinoygolfer.com and Inquirer Golf as media partners.