Juvic humbles top guns with 69, trails by 3

MANILA, Philippines - Juvic Pagunsan showed what he’s got on the world stage and proved he can be at par with the best – at least in the opening round of the World Golf Championships Thursday.

Hardly given a second look, Pagunsan focused on the task at hand and shot a three-under 69 to grab a share of fifth, trailing Adam Scott and American Jason Dufner by three but upstaging the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in a wind-whipped day at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral in Doral, Florida.

Scott defied difficult, windy conditions to seize a share of the first-round lead with Jason Dufner with identical six-under 66s.

The Aussie star had four birdies in his first nine holes and finished with five birdies and an eagle against one bogey.

Dufner hit four of his seven birdies in the last nine holes, including a birdie at his last, the par-3 ninth, where he hit his tee shot within three feet of the pin to join Scott atop the leaderboard.

“When you’re in the fairway on a day like today, you get a chance to hit it somewhere near the hole, give yourself an opportunity,” Scott said.

Although he was playing just his sixth round of the season, Scott didn’t show any signs of rust.

“I knew a good score was going to happen because every part of my game was feeling good,” Scott said. “You’ve got to take away the expectation and just let it happen. But I wasn’t too concerned.”

McIlroy, making his first start since ascending to number one in the world rankings, opened with a 73, while Woods, who finished runner-up to McIlroy in the Honda Classic last Sunday, tapped in for eagle at his opening hole but found the going tougher the rest of the way en route to an even par 72.

“It was just a difficult day,” Woods said. “The wind was blowing putts around, and it made for a very challenging round.”

Scott and Dufner had a two-shot lead over Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and South African Charl Schwartzel, who were tied on 68.

Pagunsan joined Spain’s Alvaro Quiros and Miguel Angel Jimenez, England’s Justin Rose, Aussie Aaron Baddeley and Kyle Stanley, Keegan Bradley and Steve Stricker of the US in fifth as only a dozen players broke 70 in fierce winds.

Combining exceptional driving with superb putting in brutal conditions, the Asian Tour No. 1 fired four birdies against a bogey for a solid start that was more of a relief for a player debuting on a big tournament that features the sport’s big names.

“I holed out a lot of important putts,” said Pagunsan, who had stressed the need to put premium on putting before the event.

He did. In fact, Pagunsan made just 23 putts for joint second in the day’s ranking, highlighting his impressive stint on the green with a curling 20-foot putt that rolled in on No. 10 from where he started.

He also flashed an impeccable short game that saw him rescue pars in eight times that he went out of regulation (Nos. 11, 14, 17, 18, 1, 2, 4 and 5). In between, he birdied the par-5 No. 12 from six feet, reeled back with a missed-green bogey on the 13th but fought back with two more birdies on Nos. 16 (6 feet) and 7 (20 feet) to put himself in the mix.

“I was really relieved of the pressure, especially because of that opening birdie,” said Pagunsan. “It’s hard to attack (the course) because of the wind, so I played conservative but did make a charge on some, like the par-5s.”

While most fell prey to the dreaded par 4 No. 18, where Sergio Garcia made a 7 and McIlroy and Woods hobbled with bogeys, Pagunsan said he hit a perfect drive to the left center of the fairway then recovered from a bad approach shot with a brilliant wedge shot that landed within six feet for par.

“My driving was very good despite the very windy conditions,” said Pagunsan, who was ranked in joint 49th in driving accuracy with an average distance of 271.5 yards.

According to Bones Floro, Pagunsan flubbed makeable birdie putts on Nos. 6 and 8 but said his ward was more than satisfied with how he fared under tough conditions that bedeviled the games of the majority of the fancied players in the elite 74-man fold.

“He wasn’t actually expecting anything but he was very happy with his game given the windy conditions that even putts were affected,” said Floro.

Pagunsan also said he was thrilled to have outplayed the likes of world No. 1 McIlroy, Woods, Mickelson and Lee Westwood but braces for a big comeback by the world’s big guns.

“I’m so excited (to have outscored them),” but I’m sure they will score well tomorrow (today),” said Pagunsan.