Tony Lascuña continued to defy Father Time, purposely using a couple of strong starts to keep his energy up throughout a grueling campaign, netting him a couple of romps to barge into the finals of the ICTSI Villamor Match Play at the Villamor Golf Club in Pasay yesterday.
“I thought I need to get ahead of them early. I’m so, so tired but good thing, my game didn’t change a bit,” said Lascuña, 51, after dominating Clyde Mondilla, 5&3, in the afternoon semifinals in Filipino.
In the same fashion he booted out Gerald Rosales, 4&3, in the morning quarterfinals in hot conditions, Lascuna birdied the first two holes to take command, went 3-up after four then cleverly matched his rivals’ outputs in the closing holes to secure the twin wins and the coveted spot in the finals of the first head-to-head tournament in the country’s premier pro circuit put up by ICTSI.
But standing in his way is a young, hungry ace due for a breakthrough victory as Keanu Jahns stopped Lloyd Go, 2&1, in the other semis clash to get a crack at the top P280,000 purse.
They mix it up starting at 9 a.m.
The 24th-ranked Jahns, whose best career finish was second twice, the last when he lost to Lascuna by three in the 2019 ICTSI Apo Invitational, sustained her big 4&2 reversal over eighth-ranked Jhonnel Ababa in the Last 16 Wednesday, besting top seed Guido Van der Valk, 3&2, in the morning quarters then ending Go’s impressive run of victories that included a 5&4 rout of Marvin Dumandan in the first round, a 7&5 cruise over Zanieboy Gialon in the next, and a 3&2 victory over Miguel Tabuena in the quarters.
“I’ve been playing pretty solid and my swing feels good. So after my match with Ababa, that’s when I felt good, that I felt I had the chance, so I kept the momentum going and won against Guido and Lloyd,” said the 27-year-old Jahns.
Against the Lascuna, Jahns said he hopes to cash in on his length to be able to give himself good looks at the pins although he also remained wary of what his seasoned rival could offer in a duel of power and finesse.
