Juvic drops to joint 18th

MANILA, Philippines - Juvic Pagunsan failed to sustain his fiery eagle-spiked 65 opening and settled for a 71, dropping from joint eighth to a share of 18th halfway through the Toshin Golf Tournament In Central at the Toshin Golf Club’s Central Course in Gifu, Japan yesterday.

Pagunsan, who sizzled with a bogey-free 32-33 card highlighted by a pitch-in eagle on No. 5 Thursday, lost his touch this time, fumbling with four bogeys although he rammed in five birdies to save a 71.

But his eight-under 136 aggregate put him nine strokes behind In Hoi Hur, who followed up his opening 64 with a solid 63 to seize a three-stroke lead at 127.

Kunihiro Kamii also shot a 63 to move to solo second at 130 while Ryuichi Oda fired a 66 and Yoshinori Fujimoto turned in a 67 to place third at 131.

Pagunsan, who had two runner-up finishes in this year’s Japan PGA Tour, is out to atone for his missed-cut stint in last week’s Top Cup Tokai Classic in Aichi last week.