MANILA, Philippines - Antonio Asistio II, making up for his failed title retention bid at Cangolf Am last week, fired a two-under par 69 to post a one-stroke lead over Jhonnel Ababa at the start of the SEA Games qualifier at Riviera’s Langer course in Silang, Cavite yesterday.
Asistio rattled off three birdies in the last seven holes, including one at the tough par-4 18th, to take charge of the elite nine-player field chasing four berths in the national team competing in the biennial games in Laos in December.
Ababa, the Calatagan bet who beat Asistio by one to win the Cangolf Am crown, turned in a one-under 70, missing a par-putt on the 18th and a chance to tie the spearhead of the ICTSI golf squad at the helm.
Peter Villaber, the other ICTSI mainstay hoping to make it to the RP team for the third straight time after the Putra Cup and Nomura Cup, matched par 71 over the hazard-laden layout on a two-birdie, two-bogey stint while US-based Judson Eustaquio launched his first crack at the RP squad with a 72 for joint fourth with Albin Engino.
Eustaquio actually made an impressive start of nine straight pars over a course he hasn’t played, picked up a birdie on the par-5 10th but wavered with two bogeys in the last eight holes for a 35-37 round in the tournament conducted by the National Golf Association of the Phils.