CAVINTI, Laguna ˗ Tony Lascuña ripped the course and the field with a fine display of shotmaking, churning out a solid six-under 66 and pulling ahead by three over a fast-charging Ira Alido and two others halfway through the ICTSI Caliraya Springs Championship here yesterday.
Bracing for another wild chase after forcing a four-way tie for the lead with a last-hole birdie for a 68 Tuesday, Lascuña sizzled in a backside start, blending his solid driving and iron play with near-impeccable putting on the softened greens of Caliraya Springs Golf Club.
He produced four birdies then added two more at the front for a 36-hole aggregate of 10-under 134. His 34-32 card, together with that of defending champion Zanieboy Gialon’s eagle-spiked 31-35, also became the new course record at the par-72 well-maintained championship course hosting a pro tournament for only the second time.
Gialon ruled last year’s inaugurals by four strokes over Clyde Mondilla where six players, including the eventual winner, posted 67s.
But Lascuña isn’t after the course mark, but the championship after finishing runner-up in the Bacolod and Iloilo legs of the Philippine Golf Tour last month.
He did as he gained strokes on Nos. 5 and 7 for a three-stroke lead that however remained shaky in anticipation of a feisty rush from among the contenders in moving day in the P2.5 million championship put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
But while the multi-titled campaigner sustained his first round charge, erstwhile co-leaders Lloyd Go, Rupert Zaragosa and Clyde Mondilla slowed down despite near-ideal conditions. Go turned in a 71 on a three-birdie, two-bogey round to slip to joint ninth at 139; while Zaragosa, runaway winner in Iloilo last month, and Mondilla mixed three birdies against the same number of bogeys for identical 72s that dropped them to a share of 12th at 140.
DEL ROSARIO UP BY 4
In the distaff side, Pauline del Rosario rode on a decisive four-birdie spree from No. 9 on her way to a 68 as she poised to blow the field with a four-shot lead over Kim Seoyun and a resurgent Daniella Uy.
Unable to launch her drive in a rare Ladies Philippine Golf Tour appearance with a three-putt miscue on No. 1 Tuesday, del Rosario still wrestled with her putter on No. 5, but this time, she knocked down an eagle and shot five birdies to more than make up for her three-bogey slip for a 35-33 and a 36-hole total of seven-under 137.
But her latest miscues only negated her eagle feat on the par-5 No. 4 where she hit a knockdown 9-iron shot from 140 yards to within 9 feet and buried the putt.
Then came the four-birdie binge from No. 9 that enabled her to drive a wedge between her and her pursuers although Kim bounced back from a two-over card after 12 holes with three birdies in the last five for a 71.
The young Korean, however, fell behind by four at 141, which Uy matched by besting del Rosario’s 68 with a tournament-best 67 in a big rebound from a first round 74.
Out to redeem herself from a final round meltdown in Iloilo, Uy overcame a one-over card after six holes with two birdies in the next three. The former Junior World champion, who scored an LPGT breakthrough in wicked conditions at Riviera in bubble setup in 2021, then sustained her run at the back, hitting four birdies for a 35-32.
Chanelle Avaricio likewise recovered from a 73 with a 70 but last year’s three-leg winner stayed six strokes adrift of the ICTSI-backed del Rosario at 143, while Harmie Constantino hardly recovered from a double-bogey on No. 8 with a birdie on the 10th for a 73 and a 144 total.
