by Musong Castillo

Juvic coasts to 5-shot win

Juvic Pagunsan cruised to his second professional victory on Philippine soil after shooting a three-under-par 65 Thursday to bag the P1 million PGAP Challenge at the muddy and tight Camp Aguinaldo layout.

Pagunsan was never threatened by anybody in the elite 30-man field that made the final cut and coasted home to a five-shot victory over former Philippine Open winner Cassius Casas and Elmer Salvador with a 54-hole 194 total.

Casas matched Pagunsan’s 65 and caught Salvador in second spot at 199, four strokes ahead of joint fourth placers Rey Pagunsan, Randy Garalde and Orlan Sumcad, the first-round leader who tumbled for the second straight day.

Sumcad, who shot a first round 63, turned in a 71. Garalde, a teaching pro from Valley in Antipolo, matched par 68 while Rey Pagunsan rallied with a 66.

“I’m hitting the ball well and I am also putting well,” said Juvic, who actually won a second tournament in a three-week span after breaking through in Indonesia in the Asian Tour.

And it marks his first win in the Philippines since his first professional victory at The Country Club Invitational in Laguna two years ago, when he nipped the esteemed Frankie Miñoza in a gut-wrenching playoff.

It was worth P300,000 for Pagunsan, who received his prize during the awarding graced by main sponsors Kim Yung-ho, Kim Koo-sik and Camp Aguinaldo general manager Col. Reynaldo Ochosa and PGAP president Jun Bustamante.

Pagunsan, who had earlier rounds of 66-63, left everyone eating his dust, justifying the tag as the man to beat before the tournament started last Tuesday with 105 pros answering the starting gun.

Louie Dacudao, the former PAL Interclub fixture who turned pro earlier this year, recorded his best finish after shooting a 65 for 204, tied for seventh along with Erwin Arcillas (69) and Ibarra Quiachon (70).

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