Thai ace sets pace with 65, leads by one

LIPA City, Batangas , Philippines  – Thai Chawalit Plaphol came charging home at the front with four straight birdies as he fired a seven-under 65 to post a one-shot lead over Tony Lascuña and compatriot Atthaphon Prathummanee at the start of the ICTSI Mount Malarayat Championship at the Mt. Malarayat Golf & Country Club here yesterday.

Plaphol, who finished way down in 24th at Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand ruled by Juvic Pagunsan three weeks ago, picked himself up from an opening hole bogey on No. 10 with four birdies in the next eight holes. He then birdied the last four holes at the front inside eight feet to surge ahead of a talent-laden field with a 32-33 card.

It was sizzling windup indeed for the 35-year-old Plaphol, a former SEA Games gold medalist and two-time winner on the Asian Tour making his first stint in the country.

“I drove well today and I’m happy with the way I started since it’s my first time here in the Philippines,” said Plaphol, who missed the cut in his first three tournaments on the Asian Tour. “I’ve been struggling lately so I want to play in as many tournaments as possible.”

Lascuña, joint fourth in the Pattaya Open who also shared fifth place with Pagunsan in the Indonesia leg of the M-Benz Tour, took the cudgels for the local contingent as he turned in a 33-33, scrambling for par on the last hole to preserve a bogey-free round in the $50,000 tournament sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Prathummanee matched Lascuña’s output with his own version of a 66, a 31-35 card highlighted by an eagle-3 on the par-5 No. 9.

Another Thai Namchok Tantipokakul, the reigning M-Benz Tour Order of Merit champion, stood in solo fourth with a four-under 68, gunning down six birdies to negate a two-bogey mishap on Nos. 1 and 10.