SOUTH Korea’s Seok Jun-min gunned down seven birdies in a six-under-par 66 for a one-shot lead over the veteran Rey Pagunsan after the opening round of the P2 million ICTSI Splendido Classic in Tagaytay yesterday.
Seok’s final birdie came on the 18th, which gave the boyish-looking Korean the edge over Pagunsan, whose eagle-spiked 67 was his best start in years.
Michael Bibat, the former Asian Games bronze medalist who has been winless for more than a year, shot a 68 to be just two shots behind, with Jonel Ababa, Antonio Lascuña and American-Korean Micah Shin firing 69s to stay within striking distance.
Jay Bayron, Rufino Bayron and Mark Fernando fired 70s with Peter Stojanovski of Sweden shooting a 71 like John Rey Pactolerin and former Philippine Open champion Cassius Casas to round out the Top 10.
Bibat missed out the chance to tie Seok at the top after dropping two shots on the par-3 17th and missing a makeable eagle putt on No. 10. He had six birdies in a 33-35 effort.
Lascuña, who is seeking a fifth championship this season, was bogey-less but had all pars in the front nine. His three came inside the first seven holes coming home.
Clyde Mondilla, who is coming off a swashbuckling performance last week at Mount Malarayat in Lipa, struggled to a 74 after a double bogey-par-bogey stretch from No. 12 that put to naught an opening 35.