Villacencio leads by 1; Pagunsan 5 shots off
LIPA CITY —Arnold Villacencio took advantage of his familiarity with Mt. Malarayat’s composite course and shot a six-under-par 66 to take a oneshot lead in the opening round of the ICTSI Classic yesterday that saw the returning Juvic Pagunsan shoot a 71.
Pagunsan, who opted to skip the local golf tour for nearly three years rather than pay a P25,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, did not have a rousing comeback.
He had a double bogey and two bogeys to go with his five birdies that put him in a tie for 19th place with seven others, five strokes behind the leader.
Four birdies on the inward nine helped Villvicencio ward off Jhonnel Ababa and unheralded Chris Mamaril who were at joint second with 67 each.
Villacencio, seeking a follow-up to his playoff breakthrough victory over Miguel Tabuena at ICTSI Summit Point last year, took the lead despite losing his ball on the par 5 14th. But he is expected to have a fight on his hands as 25 others broke par in a course that seemed to be playing relatively easy. “I just got lucky,” said Villacencio. He had struggled in the first nine legs of this year’s ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour where he missed three cuts and a tie for 11th as his best finish.
But playing on a course he calls home, Villacencio, who started on the back nine, seized the moment, using a near-impeccable iron game to set up birdies including a curling 10-footer on the par-5 No. 9 that gave him the lead.
Ababa, out to end a long title spell on the tour sponsored by ICTSI, matched Villacencio’s two-birdie start and a closing 32 but fumbled with two bogeys against one more birdie for a 67 that tied him with Mamaril, who birdied the last three holes at Mt. Lubo to post a career-best start.
Koreans Lee Seongki and Anthony Kim likewise churned out a pair of four-under 68s to share fourth place with former leg winner Joenard Rates and another unfancied bet in Rolando Marabe while the big guns, led by Tony Lascuña and Elmer Salvador, stayed within striking distance with 69s.