Jobim Carlos all primed up for ICTSI Iloilo golf

ILOILO, Philippines — Jobim Carlos hopes to come out better, stronger from a playoff setback to veteran Juvic Pagunsan as he shoots for another crown and tries to zero in on the Order of Merit title in the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge beginning tomorrow in Sta. Barbara here.

Carlos, whose game went on an upswing after scoring a breakthrough at Philippine Golf Tour Asia Riviera leg last June, nearly upended the fancied Pagunsan in last Saturday’s ICTSI Negros Occidental Classic finale, losing on the second playoff, a setback many believe will only make the hottest player on the circuit today a lot better, tougher.

“Juvic hits consistent short game shots and that’s I think what I should do,” said Carlos when asked what aspect of the former Asian Tour No. 1’s game had impressed him most during their encounter.

That should make him the marked man in the P3 million event sponsored by ICTSI at the quaint Iloilo Golf and Country Club, which requires accuracy off the tee and a solid short game to buck the challenges lurking from the trees, tall hills, rolling terrains and water hazards that come into play in most holes.

Cassius Casas reigned when the country’s oldest golf course last hosted a PGT event in 2004 with the now-retired former hotshot edging Elmer Salvador by one on an eight-under 270 aggregate.