Hot Lascuña seizes Taiwan lead with 68

TAINAN, Taiwan – Tony Lascuña kept his run of good form into the pivotal round of the Nan Pao TPGA (PGA of Taiwan) Open and fired a four-under 68, dispatching a pair of Taiwanese aces to wrest solo control by two over a charging Thai Ratchapol Jantavara Saturday at the Nan Pao Golf Club here.

He could’ve actually pulled away from the stellar pack if not for four lipouts and a couple of three putts that marred his 33-35 card that came after he produced a course-record trying 64 Friday to force a three-way tie after 36 holes of the fifth leg of Philippine Golf Tour and sixth stop of TPGA.

With young Liu Yu-Jui failing to match Lascuña’s hot run and slowing down with a 71 and sturdy Lee ChoChuan scrambling majority of the way and settling for a 72, the Filipino ace stormed ahead by two with a 15-under 201 aggregate.

But Lascuña faces another set of rivals, this time a pair of Thai top guns as Jantavara charged back from four flights behind to earn a spot in the championship flight with a stirring bogey-free 65 he highlighted with a five birdie-spree from No. 2 for a 203.

And he will have Sattaya Supupramai as ally in the final threesome after the latter matched Lascuña’s 68 for joint third at 204 with Liu heading to the last 18 holes of the $100,000 championship co-organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Despite his sorry misses and flubbed putts, Lascuna came into the clubhouse relieved more than disappointed, having survived three days of struggle.