Juvic, Gerald launch World Cup bid

Juvic Pagunsan and Gerald Rosales hope to come up with the right combination as the Philippines slugs it out with the best two-man teams from Asia, Europe and Africa at the start of the World Cup of Golf qualifier today at the Seri Selangor Golf Club in Malaysia.

At stake in the four-day elims are the top two slots in the World Cup slated Dec. 7-10 at the Sandy Lane Resort in St. James, Barbados where some of the world’s best players will try to foil Wales’ back-to-back title bid.

A total of $4 million prize money will be up for grabs in Barbados. 

The format for the qualifier is the same as the World Cup, with four-ball golf played on the first and third days and foursomes (or alternate shot) played on the second and final days.

Pagunsan, a rookie on the Asian Tour but already the top-ranked Filipino player in the circuit with a couple of top 10 finishes, and Rosales, the former RP Open champion, are expected to face formidable challenge from a talent-laden field, some of whom are coming off the recent Singapore Open.

Pagunsan and Rosales also competed in last week’s Asian Tour premier event where the former emerged the top Filipino finisher in joint 25 after stunning the elite field, that included Adam Scott of Australia and Ernie Els of South Africa, with a flawless 67 in the first round to lead.

The slightly built but power-hitting Pagunsan had a joint third place finish in the Brunei Open last month and shared sixth place in the RP Open last May.

Rosales also had a fine start of 70 but faltered in the next two rounds and wound up in joint 58th in the $3 million event reduced to 54 holes due to thunderstorms.

The Asian Tour is staging the four-day qualifier on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours, organizers of the four World Golf Championships events.

"The qualifier is a wonderful opportunity for Asian teams to play their way into the World Cup. It is an honor for sportsmen to represent their nation, more so in golf as there are very few team competitions on the golf calendar," said Asian Tour chief executive Louis Martin.

This will be the first time that Seri Selangor is hosting a major golf competition. Opened for play in 1998, the course is designed by Australian architect Ross Watson and provides a wonderful challenge with its tree-lined fairways and undulating greens.

Last year, Singaporean duo Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat, along with Chinese Taipei’s Wang Ter-chang, winner of the Brunei Open last week, and Chang Tse-peng qualified for the World Cup in Portugal.

The leading 18 players from different countries on the Official World Golf Ranking, published on Sept. 11 will gain automatic entries into the World Cup.

Like Asia, South America will also host a qualifier. A total of 24 teams will tee up in Barbados.