Lascuña eyes top finish in Forest Hills

ANTIPOLO – Tony Lascuña hopes to end a long winless campaign with a victory at the ICTSI Forest Hills Championship, armed with a new putter and a confidence bolstered by his triumphs in what used to be a Philippine Golf Tour event the last two years at the Nicklaus course here.

But now serving as a leg of the PGT Asia, the $100,000 championship beginning today could add to his string of heartbreaks with a slew of foreign aces and a bunch of local top guns all primed up for four days of battle at one of the country’s toughest courses.

“This is a tough course with unpredictable putting surface. You don’t know where to place your shots since some (greens) are slow and some are fast. I think a 10-under card will win here,” said Lascuña, who beat Zanieboy Gialon and Orlan Sumcad by 11 shots here in 2016 then won again by three over Gialon last year.

But the multi-titled former three-time PGT Order of Merit winner remains winless this season, both in the PGTA and PGT circuits, although he kept contending in most events only to fade in the stretch on putting woes.

“I already changed my putter and adjusted my style. Hopefully it clicks,” said Lascuña.

But he’ll be a facing a tougher, talentladen international field this week, led by Thai aces Wisut Artjanawat and Poosit Supupramai, Americans John Michael O’Toole, Brett Munson and Lexus Keoninh, South African Mathiam Keyser, Dutch Guido Van der Valk and Aussies Damien Jordan, Andrew Campbell and Nathan Park – all in pursuit of the coveted championship.

Kim Joo Hyung, winner of last week’s PGT leg at Pueblo De Oro, will also be a marked man in the fourth leg of the region’s newest circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.