Philippine golf officials said Pagunsan’s win Thursday will surely serve as a big inspiration as the Negrense youth and his teammates plunge into action in the team competition, using the match-play format for the first time in the Games.
Based on their showing in the individual play, the men’s team is ranked No. 3, taking on No. 6 Brunei in the first round while the No. 4 women’s squad is ranged against No. 5 Singapore.
Coach Iggy Clavecilla will nominate three players in the men’s and two players in the women’s which he said he’ll do only minutes before the first round. In case of a tie after the round in the women’s side, one player each from competing teams will be nominated to play in a sudden death.
A victory by the RP men’s team will range the Filipinos against the winner of the Malaysia-Singapore tiff in the semis. The teams in the upper bracket are No. 1 Thailand, No. 4 Indonesia, No. 5 Myanmar and No. 8 Vietnam.
A win by the RP ladies squad will send them to an early confrontation with title favorite Thailand, which gained automatic entry into semis for emerging No. 1 in the field.
The teams in the lower bracket are No. 2 Malaysia, No. 3 Indonesia, No. 6 Laos and No. 7 Vietnam.
With their big improvement in the closing rounds in the individual play, Jay Bayron and Marvin Dumandan may get the honors to play with Pagunsan in the men’s team competition where they may end facing Thailand in the fight for the gold.
Bayron, the reigning national caddies champion back home, fired a four-under 68 after earlier rounds of 82-72-75, while Dumandan had an even 72 following an 81 and back-to-back 76s. Joselito Zaragoza fared worst among the four in the individual competition with rounds of 78-76-76-76.
"We have a good fight. I think pang match-play talaga ang mga players natin," said Clavecilla. "Sumasabog ng malaki sa isang butas, pero kaya naming mag-birdie ng dikit-dikit.
In the ladies side, Carmellette Villaroman could be the top bet with either Heidi Chua and Ruby Chico-Walker as her partner. Villaroman was the best performer in the individual competition with an eight-over 224 total followed by Chua with 229 and Walker 232.
Thailand will have a solid pair in Onnarin and Titiya Plucksataporn, who captured the individual gold and silver with 217 and 220, respectively.
In Brunei in 1999, the men’s team of Gerald Rosales, Marlon Dizon, Angelo Que and Rey Martin Luna won the gold. The ladies team last won the gold in Jakarta in 1997 behind the pair of Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales, now both regular campaigners in the US LPGA Tour.