Murcia, Negros Occidental—Juvic Pagunsan sizzled in moving day, bucking an early mishap with a cluster of birdies in a superb seven-under 63 he spiked with an eagle as he stormed to a four-stroke lead over erstwhile leaders Rufino Bayron and Spain’s Marcos Pastor in the third round of the ICTSI Bacolod Golf Challenge here yesterday.
The smooth-swinging Pagunsan hit all fairways and missed the greens just once in an awesome display of shotmaking, iron play and putting that proved too tough for Bayron and Pastor to match, putting the Japan PGA Tour-based shotmaker way ahead of the pack at 196 and closer to a romp that could mark his return to the Philippine Golf Tour.
“I was so focused and my driving was pretty solid,” said Asia’s former No. 1 who highlighted his near-impeccable 32-31 card with an edge-to-edge eagle putt from 30 feet on the par-5 No. 16 then birdied the next two inside 12 feet.
Bayron and Marcos actually put in a pair of decent 68s on a tight course softened by overnight rains but just couldn’t keep pace with Pagunsan’s fiery game following a missed green bogey on the first hole.
The duo, who led Pagunsan by one at the halfway mark of the P2.5 million championship put up by ICTSI, dropped to joint second with 200s but got another chance to redeem themselves—or get beaten again— by the new leader, who once shot a 12-under round here, in the hunt for the top P450,000 purse in the final group today.
Aussie Fidel Concepcion fired a 66 to join Ira Alido, who matched par 70, at 203 while last week’s Club Filipino de Invitational winner Guido Van der Valk and Richard Sinfuego shot 67 and 69, respectively, but whose 204s could be too far to pose a threat given the form being dished out by the Negros Occidental ace.
Tony Lascuña also rallied with a 67 to tie first day co-leader Reymon Jaraula, who carded a 69, at 205s while Mhark Fernando failed to sustain a second round 66 with a 70 and dropped to 10th at 207 heading to the final 18 holes of the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
But unless Bayron and Pastor, or anybody from the other bidders, could come up with a low final round, Pagunsan could be heading to a title romp so unlike the last time he won at Negros Occidental where he needed an extra hole to nip young ace Jobim Carlos.
Bayron, seeking to end a long title spell on the circuit backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc., actually turned in a bogey-free card but he only hit his first birdie on No. 13 then banged in another two holes later.
Pastor, eyeing a breakthrough since topping the PGT Q-School last February, bounced back from a bogey on the third with an eagle on the next. He birdied the fifth but went on a roller-coaster ride of three birdies against the same number of bogeys for a pair of 34s.
Though seven shots off Pagunsan, Concepcion hopes to keep the momentum of his scorching 32 finish in the second-to-last flight with Alido and Van der Valk, who also came through with a solid finish of three birdies in the last six to move to joint sixth.