18th hole eagle pads pagunsan’s lead to 8

JUVIC Pagunsan eagled hole no. 18 for the second straight day en route to scoring another 66 to take an eight-stroke lead in the ICTSI Apo Golf Invitational yesterday at the Apo layout in Davao City.

Showing his mastery of the tough Apo layout, Pagunsan duplicated his opening six-under par card as he continued to outclass a stellar field to virtually wrap up a fourth leg title.

His 36-hole aggregate of 132 could well go down as the lowest in the three-year-old tour with the ace shotmaker from Negros expected to go for a new scoring record and post a new winning mark in one season in today’s final round. Marvin Dumandan won three leg titles last year.

Jhonnel Ababa, who matched Pagunsan’s 66 Wednesday despite a late tee off, started out early yesterday but came up with just one birdie after seven holes at the front before fumbling with a 9 on the par-4 No. 8 when he drove into the hazard, hit his third shot into a stymied lie and took a penalty. He then dumped his approach shot into the greenside bunker and three-putted although he made two birdies in the last six holes to salvage a two-over 74 for second at four-under 140.  Correspondent Jonas Panerio