Juvic loses steam, ends up joint 10th

MANILA, Philippines - Juvic Pagunsan struggled to salvage an even par 70 and wound up joint 10th in the Thailand Open ruled by Indian Jyoti Randhawa at the Laguna Phuket Golf Club in Thailand yesterday.

Just two shots off Rhys Davies of South Africa at the start of the final round, Pagunsan failed to keep the momentum of his two 65s in the middle rounds and ended his stint in the $50,000 event the way he started it – with an even par 70.

Three bogeys in the day ruined Pagunsan’s crack at the crown as the Filipino shotmaker tumbled down the leaderboard and needed to scramble for pars in the closing holes to save a 70 and a share of 10th place at 10-under 270, seven shots off Randhawa’s 263.

It was Pagunsan’s second top 10 finish in the early going of the Asian Tour after a joint third place finish in the Asian Tour International, also in Thailand.

Randhawa followed up his sizzling 62 in the third round with a five-under 65 as he beat Davies by two strokes with a 263. Davies closed out with a 67 and settled for second at 265 while Taiwanese Lu Wei-chih rallied with a 65 to claim third place with a 266.

Angelo Que charged back with three birdies after 12 holes but faltered with back-to-back bogeys from No. 15, needing to birdie the last two holes to fire a 67 and earn a share of 22nd at 272.

Tony Lascuña made a one-over 71 and dropped from 18th to joint 32nd with a 274 while Frankie Miñoza and Mars Pucay fired identical 65s to improve to 37th-275 and 44th-276, respectively.

Artemio Murakami also finished with a 276 after a 67.