BINANGONAN, Rizal – Veteran Benjie Magada and sophomore pro Justin Quiban leaned on superb backside stints to card identical four-under 68s in hot and windy condition, wresting a one-stroke lead over Tony Lascuña and Japanese Genki Okada at the start of the ICTSI Manila Masters here yesterday.
Gerald Rosales rattled off four straight birdies to launch his bid in a late start at the Eastridge Golf Club but the former Philippine Open champion wavered at the back with four bogeys, enabling Magada and Quiban to remain on top in the early going of the R3 million event sponsored by ICTSI.
Magada, who missed the cut in the Philippine Golf Tour’s kickoff leg at Anvaya, checked a roller-coaster stint with three birdies in the last five holes for a 35-33 card while Quiban, who finished at No. 25 in the Order of Merit ranking in his rookie year, sizzled with four birdies at the back where he teed off then negated a bogey mishap on No. 1 with a birdie on the fourth for a 36-32.
“My game clicked despite tough condition with the wind blowing from all over,” said Magada, who birdied the last two holes inside 10 feet to set in motion his bid to end a long title spell in the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Lascuña, the reigning OOM champion, missed grabbing the lead or joining Magada and Quiban on top with a faltering finish at the front but stayed within striking distance with a 69 for joint third with the 19-year-old Okada.
Lascuña, who tied for eighth at Anvaya which Angelo Que dominated by nine shots, actually bucked a bout with arthritis as he upstaged Que in their featured duel, overcoming a bogey on No. 15 with six birdies in the next nine holes to take charge. But the Davaoeño ace holed out with back-to-back bogeys on missed green mishaps and dropped out of the lead.
“The wind blew hard and the greens are really tough to read,” said Lascuña, also out to post his first victory on the mountaintop course.
Que, in contrast, put on a strong start of three birdies at the back to share the early with Frankie Miñoza and Quiban. But the former three-time Asian Tour winner fumbled with two bogeys in a birdie-less frontside stint and slipped to 71 with three others.
