Juvic Pagunsan sizzled with a four-under par 68 and Gene Bondoc turned in a fiery 69 but top gun Jerome Delariarte faltered for the second straight time (76) after opening with a 70 as the Filipinos assembled a four-under 212 for a 54-hole aggregate of 648, even-par at the Royal Brunei Airlines Golf Club course.
That was five shots behind a sturdy Thailand squad, which shot a 210 for a 643 with Ronnachai Jamnong firing a 69, Wisut Arjanawat scoring a 70 and Chinarat Pagunail shooting a 71. So impressive were the Thais that Chaddanai Choksuwanlap’s even par card didn’t count for the team.
Malaysia shot a 214 for a 652 while Singapore stood at fourth place with a 659 after a 219 followed by host Brunei (227-667), Hong Kong (232-676) and Papua New Guinea (238-726).
"The Thais are playing solid and steady. But despite the five-stroke lead, our boys will fight it out till the last hole," said Jake Ayson, executive officer of the National Golf Association of the Phils. (NGAP).
Delariarte, the reigning back-to-back national champion back home, said they could’ve caught up with the Thais, who led them by two at the start of the round, if not for his poor start that saw him drop four strokes right in the first three holes.
"Kaya pa naman yan kahit 5-down. But we have to play steady and make our putts," said Delariarte, who had a three-putt mishap and a couple of wet bogeys on Nos. 5, 6 and 7 before rallying with three straight birdies from No. 10. But the Southwoods mainstay failed to sustain his charge and stumbled with bogeys and a double-bogey on No. 16 for that 76.
Pagunsan actually had a running five-under card heading into the final hole on No. 4 but the Cangolf bet three-putted for that 33-35 round. He gunned down seven birdies against three bogeys, including a missed-green miscue on No. 12.
With Delariarte struggling, Bondoc stepped up to fire four birdies against a lone bogey on No. 9 as he shot a 69 with Marvin Dumandan, who counted with a 72 in the second day, out of the scoring roll with a 76.