JUSTIN de los Santos and Bianca Pagdanganan put themselves in the medal conversation with strong opening rounds at the 20th Asian Games golf tournament which started on Wednesday in Nagoya, Japan.
De los Santos shot a 2-under-par 68, while Pagdanganan carded a 3-under-par 67, both at the Kasugai Country Club, with Pagdanganan tied for third place in the individual standings of the women’s division.
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De los Santos, 31, who regularly competes in the Japanese Tour, had identical 34-34 nines to trail joint opening-day leaders Wang Wei-hsung of Taiwan and Japan’s Kasuki Higa, who both shot a 65, by three shots, putting him in a tie for ninth individually.
Wang shot a 5-under-par 65 and towed Taiwan to solo fourth in the team competition behind Japan which led the opening round by two shots over South Korea and China.
The Philippines’ men’s team was tied for fifth with its 137 total in the three-to-play-two-to-count format that saw Miguel Tabuena, the leader of the squad, fail to count after turning in an even-par 70. The other Philippine scorer was Carl Corpus with a 69.
The Philippines will go into the second round tied with India and Hong Kong with the leaderboard showing the region’s powerhouses co-habiting the top places.
The Japanese duo of Higa and Keita Nakajim, who carded a 4-under-par 66, powered the team to the top.
LIV Golf player Mun Do Yeob shot a bogey-free round of four-under 66 to tie for third place while Kim Joo Hyung, better known as Tom Kim on the PGA Tour, is at three-under, in a tie for seventh.
In the women’s competition, Singapore’s Shannon Tan outshined some stars of the LPGA Tour to take the lead after a 7-under-par 63.
She leads the field by three strokes with India’s Pranavi Sharath Urs in second after a 66.
Pagdanganan was in a four-way tie for third at 67 that included 2023 US Women’s PGA Championship winner Yin Ruoning of China, Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Wei-ling and Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol.
Tana’s teammate Chen Xingtong, 17, posted a one-under 69 to place joint-ninth after Round 1 and the duo lead the women’s team event with a combined score of 132, four shots ahead of South Korea, China, Chinese Taipei and Thailand.
The women’s team was tied for sixth place with Rianne Malixi at T14 after an even par 70 and Pauline Beatriz Del Rosario at T36 with her 76.
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