Pagunsan rules Southwoods

MANILA, Philippines — Pro-Am Tokyo 2020 Olympian Juvic Pagunsan capped a virtuoso performance with a bogey-free five-under-par 67 yesterday to crown himself the inaugural Southwoods Pro-Am champion at the Manila Southwoods in Carmona, Cavite.

After building an overnight lead of seven strokes, Pagunsan, 44, overpowered the field with a brilliant display of shotmaking never seen before at the Masters course for an 11-stroke victory over Justin Quiban.

It was perhaps Pagunsan’s best round in his long storied career.

When it was finally over, Pagunsan had on his three scorecards for the 54-hole event two eagles, 19 birdies – including the five in the final round and only two bogeys for a whopping 21-under total of 195.

Quiban submitted his third straight sub-par round of two-under 70 for a 10-under 206.

Lost in the shadow of Pagunsan’s superb form was the outstanding play of amateur Carl Corpus, a member of the multi-titled Southwoods team playing out of San Jose State who salvaged a tie for third place with Gerald Rosales with a 73 and a 208 aggregate.

Rosales also had some sort of a comeback story, ending a long struggle to recall the form that made him one of the Asia’s best amateurs. His 70, 68 and 70 scores were his best in recent years.