Miñoza closes in on leaders

Frankie Miñoza, out to atone for his miserable showing last week in the Kirin Open, sizzled with a six-under par 66 yesterday as the Filipino ace shotmaker sustained his first round charge to be in contention in the Chunichi Crowns golf championship of the Japan PGA Tour.

Miñoza, who limped in 22nd place last week following a series of solid performances that put him among the top five players in the current Order of Merit derby, had a 36-hole aggregate of 134, counting his opening four-under 68 Thursday.

That was just two strokes off the 132s posted by Japanese Eiji Mizoguchi and Mitsutaka Kusakabe, Adam Scott of Australia and Dean Wilson of the US heading into the weekend play of this $902,000 event in Togo, Japan.

Mizoguchi and Scott fired two of the day’s three best scores of 64, while Kusakabe and Wilson shot 66 and 70, respectively, while Shigemasa Higaki, who shot the other 64, and North Ireland Darren Clarke, firing a 67, stood at 133, setting up a shootout among the highly-charged international field.

Minoza, hoping for a more explosive windup in a bid to snap a long victory drought in the tour, is tied for seventh place with Hiroyuki Fujita and Shinichi Yokota, who carded 69 and 70, respectively.

Ideal playing condition at the 6,511-yard Nagoya Golf Club course yielded low scores with Toru Suzuki shooting a 65 to be at 135 while three others pooled a 136 and another six-player group stood at 137.