Hot Juvic eyes No. 5 in ICTSI Del Monte

MANILA, Philippines - Juvic Pagunsan opens his “drive for five” on the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour beginning today looking sharp with an emphatic victory in Davao last week and in control of a field he has dominated with a rock-solid game.

Pagunsan has everything on his side – momentum, confidence and form, which the rest of the 90-man starting field will have to neutralize if they are to stop the Bacolod pro from annexing the ICTSI Del Monte Championship.

Except for one, the list of challengers includes the fancied players in the fold with reigning Order of Merit champion Jay Bayron back in the hunt after skipping the Apo leg, joining the likes of Angelo Que, Elmer Salvador, Artemio Murakami, Tony Lascuña, Marvin Dumandan, Jhonnel Ababa, Mhark Fernando, Ferdie Aunzo, Mars Pucay, Miguel Tabuena and defending champion Cassius Casas in the P1 million event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Aunzo primed up for the championship by leading his team composed of Gerry Goking, Cody Goking and Ben Lim to victory in the pro-am tournament yesterday with a 53, beating Mhark Fernando’s group that included Jun Bella, Maricar Bella and Nixon Lee, which had a 56.

Michael Bibat and teammates Bing Espinosa, Alain Golez and Rey Briiosa pooled a 57 to finish third.

Missing in the roster, however, is homegrown hero Frankie Miñoza, who begged off to honor a previous commitment to play in Japan. The two-time Philippine Open champion, who ended up joint 17th in Apo, would’ve posed a real challenge to Pagunsan owing to his familiarity with the Del Monte Golf Club layout where he honed his talent and skills.

Still, the field is raring to foil Pagunsan’s crack at a fifth leg crown with Que, winner at ICTSI-Mt. Malarayat, expected to rebound from a so-so finish at Apo, Bayron, coming off a joint 24th finish in the Thailand Open of the OneAsia Tour, going for his first leg victory, and Casas out to “defend” the crown.

Casas benefitted from last year’s final hole controversy where Pagunsan, Salvador and Richard Sinfuego were disqualified for an infraction on Rule 22-6 that has something to do with assisting other players.

“I’ll prove that I can win it again – on my own merit,” said Casas, who wound up tied with Miñoza last week. 

Like Casas, Pagunsan, Salvador and Sinfuego will also try to complete an unfinished business at Del Monte.

Salvador was actually six inches away from wrapping up the crown with a superb pitch on the 18th hole. But he opted not to mark the ball allegedly upon the advice of Pagunsan and Sinfuego, letting them make their respective pitch shots and leading to their disqualification.

“I’ll just try again this week,” said Salvador, who underscored his readiness for Del Monte by closing out with an eight-under 64 at Apo although he still finished four shots behind Pagunsan.

Meanwhile, highlights of the ICTSI-Apo Invitational will be shown on A Round of Golf on Thursday at 8 p.m. on Solar Sports, at Global Destiny (Channel 34), Sky Cable Digital (Channel 70), and Cablelink (Channel 31).

The event, sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc., is backed by MJ Carr Golf Management, Inc., Srixon, Callaway, Unilab, BDO, Titleist, Sharp, Custom Clubmakers, Mizuno, Empire Golf & Sports Shop, PinoyGolfer.com, Inquirer Golf, Omnisource International, A Round of Golf, Studio 23, Balls, and Dynamic Sports.