Pactolerin grabs three-shot lead

TRECE MARTIRES, Cavite — From a rare missed-cut stint in faraway Baguio to a commanding three-stroke lead here at Sherwood, luck seemed to have shifted too fast for Robert Pactolerin. But the funny thing about good fortune is that it almost always falls on truly talented players.

Pactolerin felled Canadian Rick Gibson off the leaderboard with his power game then came out virtually unscathed in his shootout with Cassius Casas at the backside to fire a 67 as he zeroed in on the Ericsson-Smart zed Sherwood Classic crown one month after missing the cut in the John Hay Open.

With a 10-under-par 206 aggregate and a three-shot cushion over a charging Tony Lascuna, Pactolerin looks headed to turning what was expected to be a wild, wild chase for the top P100,000 purse into a runaway victory as the rest of his fancied rivals either failed to match his surge or simply faded away in another wind-blown day.

Casas typified that big collapse when his monstrous 300-plus yard drive on the par-4 18th (443 yds) was whipped by the galeforce winds into the hazard guarding the green and the dusky Davaoeño, who shared the lead with Pactolerin with nine holes to go but dropped three strokes back heading into the 18th, holed out with a double-bogey six and a 72.

He slid to fourth place with Lito Rempojo (71) at 211, five shots behind Pactolerin as Lascuna took the challenger’s role with a stirring six-under par, eagle-aided 66 that became the new course record on this par-72 course, an ideal layout for the long-hitters but simply too demanding for the others who tumbled down with a number of roller-coaster rounds.

"Pare-pareho namang magagaling, kaya sa putting na lang siguro magkakatalo," said Pactolerin, who had to buck a bum stomach, a runny nose and a sore throat to shoot down six birdies that negated a missed green bogey on the par-3 16th.

In fact, it was his difficult seven-foot downhill putt on the par-3 No. 2 that boosted his morale and confidence as the 39-year-old Las Piñas range pro, who won the Konica-UBIX Open at Wack Wack last November, rammed in a six-footer on No. 4, a 12-footer on the next before sinking a four-footer on the eighth for that 33.

Casas matched that output with his own version of birdies but a missed-green bogey on the 10th and that unlikely 6 on the 18th practically dampened his bid for the title.

"Last hole na kasi, kaya inupakan ko na," said Casas.

Gibson didn’t escape the rash of misfortunes that befell the fancied bets as he carded a 73, a double-bogey marred round that ended a run of under-par scores that netted the Canadian bet two top five finishes in the new circuit, a championship in Boracay two weeks ago and two-shot lead over Pactolerin and Casas Friday.

Although he will start today’s round still in the featured flight, Gibson will have to fight back from four strokes down to win as he dropped to 210 with 18 holes to play in this P700,000 tournament sponsored by Ericsson and Smart zed and supported by the Fil-Estate Group of Companies, La Paz Holding, MRT and College Assurance Plan.

Lascuna, hoping to complete a sweep of the former national teammates of the first three legs of the new circuit following Rey Pagunsan’s victory in the MRT Southwoods Open and Richard Sinfuego’s triumph in Baguio, rattled three birdies and an eagle-3 on the par-5 No. 15 for a 31 that anchored his course-setting mark.

With the par-5s reachable by the power-hitters, Rodrigo Cuello gunned down two eagles on top of two birdies but the Asian PGA Tour regular nearly blew those feats with a horrible stint on the sleek putting surface of Sherwood.

Four three-putts marked his one-under 71.

He had a 212 for sixth while Danny Zarate, another veteran of the Asian PGA, matched par 72 to be at seventh at 213, followed by Cesar Ababa (67-217), and Mars Pucay, Roben Sasutil and Carito Villaroman, who were tied for ninth at 219 after a 71, a 77 and a 74, respectively.