Que, Lascuña unfazed by lack of practice

MELBOURNE – Short in time but long in talent, Angelo Que and Tony Lascuña hope their lack of practice at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club here will work to their advantage rather than hamper their bid as they kick off their drive against a crack field in the World Cup of Golf beginning today.

“Playing the course blind could help us a bit, not knowing where the troubles are,” said Que, who with Lascuña arrived here only Tuesday following their stint in an Asian Tour event last Sunday at the Manila Southwoods back home.

“I am actually playing my fourth event without a practice round, including in the Indian Open two weeks ago where I arrived just in time for the first round and finished joint fourth,” said Que. “So it was like I am kind of used to it already.”

Turning to Lascuña, Que said he’s confident of his playing partner’s game and condition, adding, “I believe he’s going to do well,” in the event dubbed as the “Battle Royale: Nation vs Nation, Player vs Player.”

With their late arrival, they also failed to get a slot in yesterday’s pro-am tournament where the likes of world No. 2 Adam Scott and partner Fil-Aussie Jason Day, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa and Hideto Tanihara, Ireland’s world No. 12 Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry, and the defending champion American pair of Matt Kuchar and Kevin Streelman took part.

Scott and Kuchar provide the opening day sparks as they drew each other in the 11 a.m. flight with Italy’s Matteo Manassero with the former hoping to repeat over the latter whom he beat in last Sunday’s Australian Masters, also here.

Day, whose grandmother and seven other relatives perished in super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) that tore through Eastern Visayas last Nov. 8, goes up against McDowell and Swede Jonas Blixt at 1:08 p.m.

While their lack of local knowledge of the par-71 layout failed to dampen their spirits, the erratic weather and the wind could stymie not only their bid but the entire field as well with rains seen in the next four days.

“Actually, we have four seasons in a day at this time of the year. It’s really spring here but the weather has been unpredictable and there is a forecast of rain in the coming days,” said a World Cup staffer.

Still, the Filipino duo remained confident after surveying some of the holes in chilly, windy day in this quiet Victoria state for retirees.

“I am playing well and very happy to be here,” said Lascuña, who vowed to do the talking on the course starting at 9:24 a.m. today (Thursday) in the company of Mexico’s Oscar Fraustro and Finland’s Roope Kakko.

Que, in contrast, drew a late start at 11:56 a.m. along with Portugal’s Jose Filipe Lima and Norway’s Espen Kofstad.

More than the absence of a practice round and bad weather condition, Que and Lascuña, whose stint here is backed by International Container Terminal Services, Inc., will have the elite field to worry about most in the next four days.

“It’s pretty impressive to look at the field but I think the way to look at it is Kevin (Streelman) and I are going to do our best to win the individual medal and hopefully the team score is good enough to win the team title as well,” said Kuchar who partnered with Gary Woodland to deliver the last 2011 WC title to the US.

The format of the 72-hole stroke play event puts more premium on individual competition with the winner getting $1.2 million. The winning team (via combined aggregate scores) will receive $600,000.

“I think the format is pretty much an individual event. There is a team component that I think everybody with a partner wants to win and I think we’ve got a good shot as anybody in the fold,” said Kuchar.

McDowell, a four-time World Cupper, also said the format is not quite the same team specific format that it used to be but “I certainly understand the reasons why they have tried to make this more individual – world ranking points and attract a stronger field.”

“But the team element is something we are both very passionate about and we would love to be sitting in here Sunday event as team victors,” said McDowell, a former US Open winner. “But there are great teams and some great individual players and I am very much looking forward to the challenge and like I said, it’s great to be here.”

Kuchar said there is a fine line to learn around Royal Melbourne, which puts emphasis on conservative play.

“There are places where you can be aggressive but those places are slim. I think with a lot of the holes out here, a conservative approach is the way to go because that line, that margin of error is so small,” said Kuchar.