ELMER Salvador and Antonio Lascuña did justice to their pre-tournament favorite tags yesterday, shooting four-under-par 68s to share the opening round lead in the P2.5 million Central Azucarera de Tarlac Open at well-manicured Luisita Golf Club.
Salvador, seeking to win back-to-back events after ruling the Splendido stop in Tagaytay two weeks ago, drained three of his six birdies in the back nine for a 35-33 effort as he and Lascuña, the Order of Merit leader, took a one-shot lead over obscure Rico Depilo and the veteran Ramil Bisera.
Lascuña, who has four titles this season, had five birdies against a bogey as he tries to put a fourth OOM title away with a victory in this 72-hole championship that drew the participation of several Asian Development Tour stars.
Jay Bayron fired a 70 and was in a seven-man group that trails the joint leaders by two. Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk, a long-time Philippine resident, American-Korean Micah Shin and the United States’ Paul Harris were the foreigners that also scored 70s.