Lascuña seeks to firm up OOM lead at Splendido

MANILA, Philippines - Tony Lascuña gears up for a tough outing against the cream of the local pro crop as he zeroes in on the second straight Order of Merit crown when the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour resumes with the 12th leg at Splendido next week.

From a mere P40,000 lead in winnings over erstwhile frontrunner Miguel Tabuena after the circuit’s 10th leg at Tagaytay Midlands Challenge, Lascuña went P222,000 ahead following his repeat win at Manila Southwoods over Tabuena and Jhonnel Ababa early this month.

“It was a good win (Southwoods), giving me a good lead in the OOM race. But there are still four legs left and anything can happen,” said Lascuña as he primes up for the P1 million Splendido Classic on Oct. 9-11.

With two victories and four runner-up finishes, Lascuña has racked P1,682,332 in earnings with Tabuena, who rallied to finish joint second at Southwoods, piling up P1,456,527.

Elmer Salvador, a repeat winner at Aboitiz Invitational who also had three second place efforts, is in third with P1,087,776 with Angelo Que, who ruled the Orchard Invitational, staying at fourth with P1,036,276 in winnings.

But with four legs left on the 15-stage circuit put up by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., the battle for the OOM crown remains wide open.

After Splendido, the circuit will go to Riviera in Silang, Cavite on Oct. 16-19, another four-day, P2.5 million event offering a top purse of P450,000.

Canlubang will host the penultimate leg on Nov. 6-8 before the tour winds up again at Wack Wack on Nov. 20-23.

Meanwhile, Carl Santos-Ocampo, a runaway winner at Midlands, moved up to No. 5 with P837,068 followed by John Hay leg winner Jay Bayron (P822,370), Ababa (721,238), Del Monte and Pueblo de Oro back-to-back winner Frankie Minoza (623,936), Palos Verdes champion Michael Bibat (P507,004) and Edward Reyes (P452,474) in that order.