Arcillas upstages Tabuena, Que
TARLAC — Erwin Arcillas, winless in 10 years, stole the thunder from the top guns as he produced a bogey-free six-under 66 for a three-shot lead over Angelo Que and Cassius Casas and four over Miguel Tabuena and six others at the start of the ICTSI Luisita Championship at the Luisita Golf and Country Club here yesterday.
Arcillas put together a pair of 33s behind a hot putter and fiery windups on both nines, finding himself a bewildered leader among the star-studded roster in his most explosive round since firing a 65 en route to a careerbest third place finish in the now-defunct ASEAN Tour’s Mt. Malarayat leg in 2010.
Arcillas took advantage of benign condition from an early start and strung up three straight birdies from No. 15. He gunned down another birdie on No. 3 before hitting two more in the last four holes.
Both Que and Casas turned in identical 3435 cards in the same flight for joint second in this R3.5- million tournament sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
Que dropped a shot on the par-5 16th but rammed in two birdies in the last four holes.
Casas, out to snap a long title spell in the circuit backed by Custom Clubmakers, adi- das, KZG, Summit Mineral Water, Pacsports, TaylorMade, Sharp and Champion, bucked a bogey on No. 11 with birdies on Nos. 13 and 18 then negated another bogey mishap on the par-3 No. 6 with a birdie on the seventh and a closing eagle off a solid rescue second shot from 217 yards that landed seven feet off the cup.
Tabuena, seeking a second straight win on the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., finished with a bogeyfree round but his 70 proved way below expectations for a player who has won two tournaments here last year, including the Philippine Open.
“I struggled with my putting, missing five birdie putts,” said Tabuena, also set to play in Asia and Europe, including Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy, France and Sweden. “It was very frustrating to see things end this way because of my awful putting. I had no problem with my game but I have to check and refine my putting.”
Other two-under par scorers were Reymon Jaraula, Michael Bibat, Rufino Bayron and former three-time Order of Merit winner Tony Lascuna while Clyde Mondilla, runnerup to Tabuena at Anvaya, carded a 71.