RP golfers boost World Cup bid

On the right track.

The Philippines continued to flourish in the face of world-class opposition as it shot a gutsy two-under par 70 yesterday to stay in the hunt for one of the World Cup berths in the Davidoff Nations Cup in Malaysia.

The change in format — from better ball to alternate shot — slowed down the duo of Rodrigo Cuello and Danny Zarate, who sizzled with a bogey-free 64 Thursday, but the rest of the field likewise struggled in the second round, enabling the Filipinos to improve from joint sixth to solo fourth heading into the final 36 holes of the event serving as the qualifier for this year’s World Cup of Golf in Japan.

With a 10-under 134 aggregate at the Royal Selangor Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur, the Philippines closed to within two strokes behind erstwhile solo leader Norway (72), China (70) and host Malaysia (66), which tied for the lead at 132.

The Filipinos opened with a birdie on the par 5 No. 3 but dropped a stroke right on the next hole. Unruffled, Cuello and Zarate gunned down another birdie on No. 6 while rescuing pars along the way before holing out with another birdie on the 17th for that two-under card.

The Chinese tandem of Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong, who opened its bid with a 62, also had a three-birdie, one-bogey stint Friday, while the hosts, bannered by Danny Chia and P. Gunesegaran, bounced back from a bogey start on No. 2 with a string of birdies — four — from No. 3, before spiking their fiery round with an eagle-3 on No. 13.

After a flawless stint in better ball, the Norwegian pair of Per Haugsrud and Henrik Bjornstad fared miserably in the early going of the alternate shot format where they made a four-bogey string from No. 7. But they recovered in time with three birdies on the last six holes to salvage a 72.

Scoring is again expected to be low in the third round today as play returns to the four-ball better ball format with another round of alternate shot in the final round tomorrow.

The top six teams will then join the world’s top squads, led by the defending champion the United States, in the World Cup, slated Nov. 15-18, at the Taiheiyo Club in Japan.

The Philippines is seeking a second World Cup stint in four years after the tandem of Cassius Casas and Zarate finished 26th in the 1997 edition of the event at the Kiawah Island in South Carolina.

South Korea is in fifth at 135 after a 69 while five teams — Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan — were a shot farther back at eight-under 136.