Pagunsan sizzles with 67, trails by 1

Jay Bayron scrambled for a one-under par 71 yesterday and barely held off the charging Juvic Pagunsan, who fired a tournament-best 67 to arrange an all-Cangolf bets showdown for the crown in the fourth Canlubang Amateur Open Golf Championships in Laguna.

Bayron pooled a 54-hole aggregate of 209, counting his earlier rounds of 70-68, but found a talented rival in Pagunsan, the player heavily-favored to rule this tournament despite coming in from a tough outing in The Spirit International in the US last week.

Five strokes behind Bayron at the start of the round, the 25-year-old Pagunsan flashed his familiarity with the par-72, hazard-laden layout and shot that five-under card to move within a stroke at 210 heading into the final round of this event sponsored by SEAMECOR, Schering Plough Corp., DOTC Secretary Gen. Leandro Mendoza, Robert Bosch, Inc., Century Park Hotel, Raoul Jorge and Darly de Roca.

The rest of the field stood too far behind the duo with first round leader Michael Bibat hardly making a move with a 73 that put him six strokes off the pace and in a tie with Southwoods’ teammate Gene Bondoc, who had a 74, at 215.

Unfancied Royal Northwoods’ bet Kim Chang-ho failed to sustain his fiery 69 Wednesday and struggled with a 73 for a 216 while Jun Bernis, another Cangolf bet, shot a two-under par 70 to be at 217.

Lina de Guzman capped her domination of the women’s side by carding a 73 for a 218 as she topped the 54-hole tournament by nine strokes over Remijin Camping and Lucy Landicho, who both had 74s and 227s. Camping nipped Landicho in the countback for second.

Erstwhile second-running Anya Tanpinco of Bacolod faltered with a 78 and slid to fourth at 231 followed by Park Soo-mi (82-238), Tracy Locsin (86-246), Kang Yeong-ran (84-253) and Hoe Bic-na (88-254) in that order.

Meanwhile, T. Togawa matched par 72 to pace the Championship II division by three shots over B. Celestino, Rolly Viray and Mari Hechanova, who all had 75s, while Luigi Yulo fumbled with a 78.

In the handicap 36-hole competitions, M. Trinos and J. Trinos shared the Class A lead with net 68s for a one-shot lead over Ed Abanes; Vic Onella showed the way in Class B with 69, also for a one-stroke lead over Vic Plata; Errol Cruz and Jojo Subido shared the Class C lead with identical 64s; while Christian Villegas and Galiciano Castaneda each shot 61s for the lead in Class D.