Juvic Pagunsan (AFP)
Red-hot Juvic Pagunsan took the first-round lead in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Indonesia on Wednesday to make the perfect start in his bid to finish the year ranked number one.
Red-hot Juvic Pagunsan took the first-round lead in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Indonesia on Wednesday to make the perfect start in his bid to finish the year ranked number one.
The Filipino carded an eight-under-par 64 at Emeralda Golf and Country Club to take the lead ahead of Thailand's Borwon Chaisri, who shot 66.
The 80,000-dollar tournament is the last of the season on the Mercedes-Benz Tour and Pagunsan currently heads the Order of Merit with earnings of 22,450 dollars.
Pagunsan claimed the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand in June by seven strokes and carded a flawless round Wednesday, making eight birdies.
He played the front nine in five under helped by three birdies in a row from the second. He also made three on the trot from the 14th.
"That was one of my best rounds of the year. I did not put a foot wrong," said 32-year-old Pagunsan.
The Filipino's biggest victory since turning professional in 2006 came in the Indonesia President Invitational in 2007 and he is clearly relishing playing on Indonesian soil once again.
"The victory in Thailand did a lot for my confidence. I had made some swing changes then and they are still paying off. Winning the Merit list title is very much on my mind but I am not letting it make me nervous," added Pagunsan.
In a rare treat for the crowd, two players recorded aces. Thailand's Atthaphon Prathummanee had a hole in one on the 16th while his countryman Philip Matsson, an amateur, aced the fourth.
A number of the region's top amateurs have been invited to play this week to gain experience competing at a high level.
Thailand's Pinsawat Pariwat, the youngest of them all at the age of just 13, fired a very respectable 73. The boy from Phuket hit the headlines when he claimed equal fifth place in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand.
Leading first round scores (par 72):
64 - Juvic Pagunsan (PHI)
66 - Borwon Chaisri (THA)
68 - Namchok Tantipokhakul (THA), Antonio Lascuna (PHI). Wittawat Sae-ung (THA), Artemio Murakami (PHI)
69 - Nicholas Fung (MAS), Wisut Artjanawat (THA), Panuwat Muenlek (THA), Mohd Sukree Othman (MAS), Ferdie Aunzo (PHI), Pawin Ingkhapradit (Am) (THA), Atthaphon Prathummanee (THA)
Selected:
72 - Danny Chia (MAS), Rory Hie (INA)
73 - Pinsawat Pariwat (Am) (THA)
© 2010 AFP/sid
