Bisera plucks 68 in windless morning flight, leads by one

CANLUBANG — Ramil Bisera sneaked in a star-studded field and found himself a bewildered leader with a two-under par 68 fashioned out in one of the early flights when playing condition at The Country Club was still at its manageable level, posting a one-stroke lead over Cassius Casas and Robert Pactolerin at the start of the P4 million The Country Club Invitational here yesterday.

That he did it behind a fiery windup spoke well of the character of the man bidding to end a title drought in a six-year pro career on a circuit with few tournaments to offer the last few years. But Bisera will need more than spirit, luck and talent if he has to completely upstage the revered men of the local pro golf.

He birdied three of the last six holes inside three feet to complete a 35-33 round just before the dreaded winds started to whip up the elite field, finding himself on top of the leaderboard early on and until the last flight came in by mid-afternoon.

That included Casas and Pactolerin, who, like Bisera, rallied with two birdies coming home for those identical 69s, the only two other under-par rounds turned in on the daunting par-70 layout.

"Nakatulong talaga yun maaga ang tee-off kasi hindi masyado malakas ang hangin kaya maganda lahat (The early tee-off helped me since there was hardly wind to contend with so I had a good game)," said the 31-year-old Bisera, who finished sixth here last year.

"Pero kahit ako nasorpresa sa nilaro ko (But I was really surprised with the way I played)," he added.

Casas, the inaugural champion here in 2003, and Pactolerin didn’t surprise themselves with those 69s since they expected to come up with a strong start in their respective bids for the top P1.2 million purse with the former fighting back from a double-bogey mishap with birdies on Nos. 14 and 17 and the latter highlighting his 35-34 round with back-to-back birdies from No. 14.

What was perplexing was Frankie Miñoza’s opening round performance in this P4 million tournament that has produced different winners in its first three years of staging as the former Asian Tour top gun skied with a 77, seven over par, marred by three bogeys, a double-bogey and a triple-bogey 7 with only a birdie to show.

Still, Miñoza was unfazed.

"OK naman at maganda ang palo," he said, still confident of making it to the weekend play with a solid round today.

But bunched in 23rd place in a field of 33, Miñoza will have a lot of catching up to do to make it to the top 16 players who will advance to the final 36 holes of this event put up by Ricky Razon to honor the memory of his father Don Pocholo, an avid golfer like him.

Except for Miñoza and defending champion Jerome Delariarte, who limped with a birdie-less 76, the country’s top players are well within sight of Bisera, including Gerald Rosales, Richard Sinfuego and Artemio Murakami, who all carded even par 70s, while Juvic Pagunsan launched his bid with a 71 to join Angelo Que and Ruben Sasutil in seventh place.

Pagunsan, back on a course he tamed to win the individual crown and steer the RP team to the men’s championship in the last SEA Games, bounced back from a birdie-less frontnine (39) with a stirring three-birdie string from No. 12 to salvage a one-over par 71.

Though it broke a series of under par rounds he dished out in the SEAG, Pagunsan, 27, stayed in the hunt although he left in a huff as soon as he signed his scorecard.

Actually, a lady amateur also scored a 71 but Anya Tanpinco, one of the three amateurs given the privilege to play alongside the pros as part of their preparations for the Thailand Open next month, played on the white tees. Reigning RP Ladies Open champ Debbie de Villa had a 76 while Lora Roberto struggled with a 77.

2004 champion Tony Lascuna had a 73 to tie Erwin Arcillas, one stroke behind the 72s of Benjie Magada, Carito Villaroman, Danny Zarate, Mars Pucay, and Cookie La’O, the runner-up here last year, who had the best front nine score of 33 but faltered with two bogeys and a double-bogey at the back.