RP team bows out; Murakami stumbles

NARITA, Japan — The Philippines bowed out of contention in the Nomura Cup with a mediocre one-under 215 Thursday even as Australia virtually wrapped up a second straight championship with another fiery 13-under 203 in the third round at the Narita Golf Club here.

Juvic Pagunsan finally found his form after two days of struggle as he fired an eagle-spiked 67 but two-day individual co-leader Artemio Murakami lost his touch and groped for a two-over par 74. Counting Jay Bayron’s own 74, the Filipinos settled for a 215 and a 54-hole aggregate of 640, 23 strokes off the pace.

Erwin Vinluan, who counted for the team with a 74 in the first day, ballooned to an 80.

The Philippines’ so-so round under overcast skies dropped it to fifth from a previous high of joint third in the first day and then fourth, enabling SEA Games rival Thailand to grab fourth place with a solid 207 as its youth brigade, led by 16-year-old Anujit Hirunratanakorn’s 66, displayed grace under pressure to pool at 638.

Australia eased the charge by New Zealand and South Korea as it duplicated its superb first round score to pad its overnight three-stroke lead into a whopping seven-shot cushion heading into the final 18 holes of this event also known as the Asia-Pacific Golf Team Championship.

With Andrew Dodt firing a 67 and Michael Sim and Korean Woo Joon Lee carding identical 68s, the Aussies made a 203 for a 617, seven strokes off South Korea, which caught up with New Zealand at 624 after a 205.

The Kiwis, who sizzled with a 205 Thursday and moved within three off the Aussies, slowed down with a 207.

Murakami, who made quite an impression here when he shot 67 and 69 in the first two rounds, never recovered from an errant drive that sliced into the woods on No. 1 for a double-bogey as the country’s top scorer in the first two rounds spent the day trying to recover his bearing and rhythm that never came.

He even fell to four-over twice, the last on No. 13 after a missed-green bogey, but the 22-year-old former national amateur champion back home birdied Nos. 14 and 17 to salvage a two-over par card. From a share of the lead with Woo in the individual race, Murakami tumbled down to joint eighth with three others at 210.

Woo, the power-hitting Korean anchoring the Aussies’ back-to-back title bid here, had a 54-hole total of 204 as he led fellow Korean but rival Dong Hwan Lee (206) by two strokes, while Michael Sim, the only holdover of the 2003 champion squad, stood at 207.

It was indeed a sorry day for the RP squad, skippered by National Golf Association of the Phils. director Gen. Bert Sabularse and sent here by the NGAP through golf patron Ricky Razon as part of its SEAG buildup, as Pagunsan finally got into the scoring act only to find Murakami struggle with his game all day.

"We’re not lucky enough to have them both scoring for the team in one day but we can still hope for tomorrow," said national team coach Bong Lopez, whose goal this time is to beat the Thais for No. 4.

Pagunsan actually caught fire only in the backside as he came up with three birdies (10, 15, 18) and an eagle on the par-5 17 after making the turn at 36.

Bayron also headed for No. 18 with an even par card but drove out of bounds and holed out with a 6.

India stood at sixth at 647 after a 212 followed by Malaysia (217-649) and Japan (211-649), Taiwan (216-654) and China (215-661).