Sinfuego fires 65, shares lead

BAGUIO City — Richard Sinfuego returned to the very scene of his pro debut and fired an eagle-aided three-under par 65 yesterday, hoping to atone for his disastrous windup in the MRT Southwoods Open and finally score a breakthrough victory in five years in the Camp John Hay Open over a course too short for the revered men of the tour but too tough for the fainthearted.

"Konting mali mo lang kasi dito aksidente ang aabutin mo," said Sinfuego, referring to the par 68 Camp John Hay course, a short layout just over 5000 yards — by championship standard but truly a challenging one with its tight, up-and-down fairways made more daunting by its sleek putting surface.

Sinfuego, who blew a two-shot lead over eventual winner Rey Pagunsan in the final round of the MRT Southwoods Open two weeks ago, the kickoff leg of this year’s revival of the local circuit, did minimize his mistakes on a fairly cool, windless morning here but had to share the first round lead with Tonokazu Yoshinaga, a young Japanese shotmaker who topped the recent PGAP qualifier at Eastridge and who matched Sinfuego’s eagle aided round in the same flight of the shotgun style-pro-am event.

They took a one-stroke lead over Ramon Brobio, the former jungolf star seeking for his second pro crown whose four birdies negated a couple of bogeys for that 66, while Roger Cabajar and Mario Siodina both turned in 67s to emerge as the only other players to have turned in under-par rounds of this tough layout which hosted the Philippine Open in 1997.

That was when Sinfuego and former national teammates Tony Lascuña and Pagunsan joined the pro ranks that saw the former even upstage the likes of Frankie Miñoza and eventual RP Open winner Kevin Wentworth by snatching the first round lead before eventually finishing in joint sixth.

But that was before this pine tree-lined layout underwent a major facelift as Fil-Estate turned it into a gem of a course that requires not only accuracy and precision but also a lot of mental toughness from the competing pros.

Sure, the 3 par 5s remain reachable and at least half of the 8 par 4s can be attacked by the long-hitting pros from the mound. But the challenge that the layout offers comes from its fast putting surfaces that are so slick that balls keep bouncing over the strategically-placed targets.

Three putts became a rule rather than exception with Sinfuego, who launched his bid with an eagle on the par 4 8th, fumbling with a couple of three-putt bogeys that marred his otherwise fine round of 32-33.

Still, Yoshinaga said Sinfuego putted very well although it turned out it was him who proved steadier on the greens as the 23-year-old Japanese, who will join Pagunsan in the Japan PGA Tour next month, came out unscathed with only a missed-green bogey blemishing his 35-30 round he spiked with an eagle-2 on the par 4 No. 12.

Pagunsan had too many three-putts in launching his bid for back-to-back titles in this 12-leg series put up by the Fil-Estate Group of Companies headed by Manila Southwoods chair Bob Sobrepeña and sponsored by College Assurance Plan, Metrostar, Southwoods Manor and Camp John Hay Development Corp. as the wiry Southwoods pro struggled with a 71 to fall into a tie for 17th place with Benjie Magada, Anthony Balan, Elmer Salvador, Mario Manubay and top guns Robert Pactolerin and Mars Pucay.