TONY TAMES CALIRAYA
TONY LASCUÑA ripped open the course and broke away from the field with a solid course record six-under 66 to pull ahead by three shots over a fastcharging Ira Alido and two others halfway through the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Caliraya Springs Championship Wednesday in Cavinti, Laguna. 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 by blending his solid driving and iron play with near-impeccable putting on the softened greens of Caliraya Springs Golf Club. Lascuña 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 record, but the championship after finishing runner-up in the Bacolod and Iloilo legs of the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) last month.
“I hit all fairways and missed just one green, so that summed up my game,” said Lascuña, whose iron play set up a number of birdie chances, six of which he drained, including the farthest from 12 feet on No. 15.
“The greens are great, my allowance allow me to putt very well,” added Lascuña, whose daily goal is to shoot four-under. “My target is to score two-under on each nine but after going four-under at the back, I knew I could hit more birdies.”
He did as he gained strokes on Nos. 5 and 7 for a three-shot 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.
But moving up to joint second at 137 is the troika of Alido and Marvin Dumandan, who matched 67s, and Elmer Salvador, who put in a 68, while Gialon bounced back from an opening 72 with his own version of a 66, sparking his charge with a chip-in birdie on No. 11, then highlighting it with an eagle on the par-5 No. 4 and a closing three-birdie binge at the front.
Gialon, however, remained four shots behind Lascuña at 138, with Eric Gallardo, who fired a 68, and Jhonnel Ababa and Reymon Jaraula, who matched 69s, joining him at fifth.