LUBAO, Pampanga – Tony Lascuna continued to defy expectations on a course where length is key, banking on his accuracy, ball control and putting to storm ahead by two on a solid 70 halfway through the ICTSI Pradera Verde Championship on Wednesday.
Lascuna hit all fairways in high winds and relied mostly on his hybrid – and at times 3-wood – in tackling the long par-4s and par-5s while his younger, stronger rivals would muscled long irons into the greens.
But good-natured Davaoeno always found a way to give himself chances - and readily took advantage.
Two strokes clear of Angelo Que, Art Arbole and Guido Van der Valk at five-under 139, Lascuna gave himself another shot at victory in this late stage of a checkered career, leading a pack of power-hitters and a Dutch rival whose game resembles his.
“This course is really for the long hitters,” insisted Lascuna, a four-time Order of Merit winner on the Philippine Golf Tour, also impressive in the accuracy of his short game that saw him go out of regulation just once.
“But my hybrid has been working quite well – and my putts are going in,” he added.
Lascuna flubbed four makeable chances inside seven feet but drilled a clutch one from way out on the 17th, giving him a two-shot cushion heading to moving day of the P2 million championship put up by ICTSI.
Que stayed in the thick of things at 141 despite slowing down with a 72 after an opening 69; Guido Van der Valk bounced back from a wobbly frontside 38 with four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 12 to save a 70; and unfancied Art Arbole leaned on what he termed as “lucky” streak to put himself in the running.
Jhonnel Ababa missed seizing solo second with a bunker-bunker shot on the par-4 No. 16 that led to a double bogey, settling for a second straight 71. He slipped to joint fifth at 142 with Keanu Jahns and amateur and Nomuca Cup-bound Elee Bisera, who shot 70 and 72, respectively.
Reymon Jaraula, a one-time PGT winner at Pueblo de Oro, fired a 69 to gain solo eighth at 143 while Frankie Miñoza wavered with a 74 to slip to joint ninth at 144 with, interestingly, players who matched his remarkable opening round 70 – Mars Pucay, Gerald Rosales and amateur Josh Jorge.

In the women's tournament, Chanelle Avaricio barely survived a wind-blown day with a 74 that set the stage for a wild finish on Thursday.
The three-leg winner still held the lead at 141 but the seven-shot turnaround from her fiery opening 67 typified the daunting challenge that the field had to endure on a day when three broke par to make it a wide-open battle for top honors in the 54-hole, P1.25 million championship.
Harmie Constantino fought back from a bogey on No. 4 with birdies on Nos. 6 and 12 for a second straight 71 and a 142 while Florence Bisera gunned down four birdies against two bogeys to wrest solo third at 143 after 36 holes of play.
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