Lascuña triumphs by one in Taiwan

TAINAN, Taiwan–Antonio Lascuña closed out with a two-under-par 70 on Sunday to rule the $100,000 Nan Pao TPGA Open by one stroke over local bet Liu Yu-Jui at Nan Pao Golf Club here.

The 48-year-old Lascuña came up with brilliant par saves in his last two holes to tally 271 over the tree-lined layout and snap a two-year dry spell.

“It’s been a long time and what makes this win a lot sweeter was that I made it here in Taiwan,” said Lascuña, who drove it badly on Nos. 17 and 18 and needed some precise iron play both times to seal the deal.

“But coming here, I was really confident of my form and my chances,” added Lascuña, who won $17,500.

“I was actually steady off the tees since the first round, but that’s golf,” he said. “I just kept telling myself to just stay focused.”

Thailand’s Ratchapol Jantavara, together with Liu, blew into the mix late in the final day and were ready to pounce after the first two bad drives.

But Lascuña steadied the ship, so to speak, coming through with a near-perfect lob shot from 45 yards on No. 17 to salvage a tap-in par that somehow shattered Jantavara’s confidence.

Jantavara cracked and holed out bogey-bogey for a 70, dropping into a tie for third with Sattaya Supupramai, who shot a 69, and Taiwan’s Hsieh Ting-Hung, who closed out with a 65, at 273.

“This victory also proved that Filipinos can be at par, or even better, than our counterparts in the region. Winning a PGT Asia event abroad is doubly meaningful since I’m the first Filipino to do so,” said Lascuña.

It was his first victory since winning the ICTSI Forest Hills Championship in 2017 and second win abroad after edging Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, the former Philippine Open champion, in sudden death in the Sabah Masters in Malaysia in 2013.