Bernis, Kim hold ground

CANLUBANG–Playing opposite the most fancied in the fold, Jun Bernis and Kim Chang Hoi didn’t waver and instead put the pressure back on Juvic Pagunsan to keep their 1-2 positions in the penultimate round of the ninth DHL-NGAP Amateur Golf Championships at Cangolf’s north course yesterday.

Bernis, still searching for a breakthrough victory in a long, unheralded campaign on the amateur tour, fought back from a shaky frontside stint with a 35 at the back, highlighted by two birdies and three scrambling pars that kept the club bet atop the leaderboard with a 54-hole haul of 209.

"Sobrang nerbiyos ko sa umpisa at nawala ang focus ko. Pero kinondisyon ko na lang ang sarili ko na dapat sila ang ma-pressure dahil sila ang naghahabol," said Bernis, who bogeyed 8 and 9 for a 37, enabling Kim, 2-down at the start of the day, to draw level after a 35.

But Bernis, a former range-ball boy at Villamor, checked his skid in time, rescuing pars on Nos. 10, 15 and 18th while sinking birdies inside 6 feet on Nos. 11 and 16.

Like the two-day leader, Kim momentarily flinched when paired against Pagunsan but held his own in the face of the fancied bet’s fiery 33 at the front as he strung up nines of 35-37 for that 72 and a 211.

And like Bernis, the slow-playing 17-year-old Korean flashed a solid short game where he saved pars four times that he went out of regulation as he remained in the hunt for the crown in this annual event sponsored by DHL Express and WWWExpress.

"I was so nervous at the start but after two holes, I told myself that I should stay focused and should just play my game," said Kim, who was incidentally severely reprimanded by rulesman Toots Aquino for slow play.

But the rigors of playing top-level golf for the second straight week could take their toll on the youthful player, who admitted later that the fatigue factor slowed him down at the backside.

"I was so tired," said Kim.

Pagunsan, who moved to within one at the turn with that 33, also looked like a tired and beaten man at the end of the round as the 2000 champion uncharacteristically cracked with back-to-back double bogeys from No. 13.

Together with his missed-green bogey on No. 11, the 25-year-old Pagunsan closed out with a 41 and a 74 as he slid farther back at 216 in a tie with Buboy Jaraulla, who rallied with a two-under par 70.

Having defused Pagunsan’s charge, Bernis and Kim found a new rival in Bayron, who turned in the day’s best score of 68, a bogey-less round that kept the former caddie from Apo in step with Kim at 211.

Bayron, chasing a second title in as many weeks after a runaway victory in last week’s Samsung Amateur Tour at Tagaytay Midlands where he beat Kim, among others, actually opened his bid here with a 69 Tuesday but limped with a 74 Wednesday only to wheel back into contention with that near-flawless 68 yesterday.

Meanwhile, Lora Roberto tried to atone for her final round foldup in the recent RP Ladies Open when she carded a 74 to lead the ladies division by four strokes with a 150. Jungolf champion and veteran internationalist Jayvie Agojo struggled with a 78 for second with 154 while first round leader Lina de Guzman skied to an 80 and fell to third at 155.