Amazing Pagunsan nails 2nd Japan Tour title, pockets P4.8M

MANILA, Philippines – Juvic Pagunsan never ceases to amaze. Two years after ending a decade-long search for a breakthrough win on the Japan Golf Tour at age 43, the smooth-swinging Filipino stepped on the podium again, claiming the Golf Partner Pro-Am championship worth Y12 million (P4.8 million) on a closing 66 in Ibaraki Saturday.

Like in moving day where he cashed in on Taiga Semikawa’s last-hole mishap to wrest back the solo lead Friday, Pagunsan pounced on her 22-year-old rival’s bogey on the first hole although this time, he made it a big two-shot swing as he birdied the par-4 No. 1 to go 3-up at the par-70 Toride International layout.

He stayed on top the rest of the way, fending off a couple of threats from the locals, including from a hot-finishing Ohira Sato, whose closing eight-under, bogey-free 62, however, proved short to steal him the crown.

For Pagunsan, who turned 45 last week, stayed focused all throughout, bouncing back strong from each mishap while banking on his experience and power to hack out a two-shot victory on a 23-under 257 total that included a pair of 64s and a 63.

“I was able to win by making full use of my experience and (physical) strength,” said Pagunsan.

The victory was one-stroke less than his milestone triumph in the Mizuno Open in 2021 in Okayama where he used just 11 clubs and played without a caddie in a pandemic-hit season.

That win actually netted him a spot in the British Open, one of the world’s four majors, but the ace Negrense shotmaker opted to vie in the Tokyo Olympics instead where he wound up at 55th.

But this time, he said: “I definitely want to go this year.”

His latest feat does augur well for his British Open bid with the Mizuno Open, a qualifying event for the Open, set May 25-28 back at the JFE Setonakai Golf Club in Okayama.

Pagunsan’s Golf Partner title romp also came after Miguel Tabuena scored a stirring come-from-behind win in the DGC Open of the Asian Tour last March, underscoring the Filipino top guns’ readiness to slug it out with the best in the region and some of the top players in the world.

After dropping a stroke on No. 2, he birdied the next, snapped a run of pars with back-to-back feats linking both nines — both par-5s — and adding another birdie on the 13th. He missed the par-3 No. 14 but came through with back-to-back birdies from Nos. 16 to all but wrap up the championship.

He holed out with a bogey for a pair of 33s.

Pagunsan, holder of a record four-leg win on the Philippine Golf Tour in 2019, has missed the cut in four starts on this year’s JGT, finishing tied at 35th in last month’s The Crowns.

“My season so far has been up and down. Sometimes I play well, sometimes I play poorly. But I’m still there, hanging in there,” he said.

The former Asian Tour No. 1 also struggled with only three cuts made in 11 tournaments last year. But he made all but one cut in his next 10 tournaments, spiked by a best tied for fifth finish at the Panasonic Open.

Semikawa, meanwhile, birdied the last hole for a two-shot swing over Pagunsan as the salvaged a joint runner-up finish at 259 after a 67.

Filipino-American Justin delos Santos also charged back with a solid 63 and gained a joint 14th place effort at 265.