Bayron faces stiff challenge in Aboitiz Invitational

TWO MORE golfers will be looking to throw their hats in during the Aboitiz Invitational as Tony Lascuna and Mars Pucay aim to avert a three-peat by Jay Bayron in the competition that starts Aug. 8 at the Cebu Country Club in Banilad.

Lascuna hopes to gain the upper hand using the newfound work ethic that he has shown this season, which has paid dividends on the local tour with two wins, one runner-up and four top-five finishes.

Pucay also saw his game go a notch higher when he won the ICTSI Iloilo Challenge two weeks ago, closing out with a bogey-free 66 at Sta. Barbara to end a two-year spell for the Asian Tour campaigner.

Bayron, who leaned on a closing six-under 64 to beat Marvin Dumandan by five last year, will still be the marked man as the defending champion although no fewer than 50 other Filipino players will be in the fold—all eager to achieve success on home soil and fuel their respective Asian Tour bids.

The top three money-earners after this year’s 12-leg ADT circuit will gain automatic cards on the elite Asian Tour for the 2013 season.

Bayron is the leading Filipino player on the ADT OOM at No. 2, owing to his victory in last month’s Maybank ADT Challenge in Indonesia.

Others fancied to contend for the crown are Elmer Salvador, Michael Bibat, Ferdie Aunzo, Artemio Murakami, Mhark Fernando, Jhonnel Ababa, Carl Santos-Ocampo, Charles Hong, Anthony Fernando and Dumandan./Correspondent Jonas Panerio