Lascuña saves par, climbs to joint 10th in World Cup

MELBOURNE – Tony Lascuña kept bucking the odds with conservative play to save an even par 71 while Angelo Que improved a bit with a 72 and the Philippines moved one rung up at joint 10th with a 143 even as the United States broke away from Denmark to seize control halfway through the World Cup of Golf here yesterday.

Lascuña, 42, flashed top form again on the treacherous Royal Melbourne Golf Club that continued to bedevil the games of majority of the field with its firm, fast surface as he traded two birdies against the same number of bogeys while misreading a couple of short, tricky birdie putts that either swerved to the left or to the right.

“The course is so dangerous. I left a lot of putts short but that’s all I can do,” said Lascuña, who hit a solid approach shot on the tough par-4 18th but flubbed a seven-footer for birdie. “I thought it was a downhill putt but I misread it completely. Still, I’m happy with an even par.”

Truly, Lascuña’s gutsy 71 and earlier superb 70 kept the Filipino ace at joint ninth with South Korea’s KJ Choi, who stumbled with a 74, and Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who shot a 70, France’s Gregory Bourdy, who rallied with a 69, Mexico’s Oscar Fraustro, who sizzled with a 67, and Canadian David Hearn, who matched par 71, heading to the final 36 holes of the two-man team event which also puts premium – not to mention a princely top purse of $1.2 million – on individual play.

“Still in Top 10. I’m going to stay up on the leaderboard but I have to keep controlling my game and just try to keep the ball in play and never attack the pins,” said Lascuña, whose second World Cup stint is backed by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Que, meanwhile, leaned on his putting to somewhat buck another day-long struggle with his shotmaking as he finished with three birdies against four bogeys for a 72 that came after a disastrous 74 in the opening round of the 72-hole championship that features the world’s best two-man teams.

With a 143 and a 287 total, the Philippines tied Brazil and England at 10th at 287, 13 strokes off the US, which produced a second straight 137 to wrest a three-shot lead over erstwhile joint leader Denmark, which slowed down with a 140 for a 277.

“I didn’t hit it better today but I made a lot of putts, saved a lot of pars today (yesterday) and that is good,” said Que, whose 146 aggregate dropped him to joint 40th. “But I’m getting there. After going three over to one-over, hopefully it will be one-under tomorrow (today) and a three-under on Sunday.”

But like Lascuña, Que stressed the need to take it one shot at a time and try to hit it closer to the pins to get some cracks at birdies that continued to elude even the best in the fold.

“You’ve got to think hard – where you’ve got to land it and where you’ve got to hit it. But the most important thing is where you’re going to miss it,” said Que. “The main thing here are the greens. If you can putt on them and start hitting them closer, you can make birdies.”

With world No. 2 Adam Scott rebounding with a 68 after a 75 and Fil-Aussie Jason Day carding a 70 after a 68, host Australia assembled a 138 to force a tie with Japan, firing a 138, at third at 281.

Portugal pooled a 282 after a 142 for fifth while Scotland stood at sixth at 284 after a 143 followed by Canada (144), Thailand (142) and France (140), which also had 285s.

Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn shot a 68 for an eight-under 134 as he seized a one-stroke lead over American Kevin Streelman, who had a 69, in the individual race with Day and Portugal’s Ricardo Santos at third with 138s.

Lascuña, meanwhile, gets the rare chance to showcase his skills and talent against Choi, the South Korea ace and winner of eight PGA Tour titles, including the Players Championship, in the sixth to the last flight in today’s third round action, while Que is paired with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, also a PGA Tour campaigner.

Bjorn and Streelman, meanwhile, slug it out in the featured flight while Day will take on Santos in second to the last group.