Juvic Pagunsan
DORAL, Florida—Even another meltdown on the back nine failed to deny Juvic Pagunsan a huge payday of $60,500 (P2.58 million) in the $8.5 million WGC-Cadillac Championship Sunday as the Asian Tour’s reigning No. 1 settled for another even par 72 to finish 12 strokes behind winner Justin Rose of England.
Upholding his stature, the Filipino ace wound up as the top Asian in the elite field of 74 with a 4-under 284 total that left him, along with PGA Tour regular KJ Choi of South Korea, in an eight-way tie for 35th place.
Pagunsan had actually climbed among the top 20 after the front nine with a sizzling 4-under 32. He opened his round with back-to-back birdies and picked up two more shots on the sixth and eighth holes.
But the Bacolod shotmaker, who bogeyed three of his last four holes for another 72 in the third round, faltered again on his closing nine. He double bogeyed the par-3 13th hole and dropped two more strokes with a 6 on the par-4 18th.
The three players who ended up at 8-under overall earned $92,000 each.
Still, Pagunsan, who had earlier rounds of 69-71, easily surpassed the champion’s take of $47,550 in the first two legs of the Asian Tour—the Myanmar Open and the ICTSI-Philippine Open.
He also earned bragging rights as Pagunsan, who was cut in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic last month, even finished a stroke ahead of reigning British Open champion Darren Clarke and American superstar Phil Mickelson, who tied at 285.
Rose won the second leg of the WGC series by one stroke from American Bubba Watson after former world No. 1 Tiger Woods withdrew mid-round with injury.
The composed Rose shot a final round 70 to finish at 16-under-par while Watson, who had led by three at the start of the day, ended at 15-under after closing with a 74.
Watson missed an eight-foot birdie putt on the last hole that would have forced a playoff but the left-handed American ultimately paid the price for four bogeys on the front nine.
World No.1 Rory McIlroy had put himself into the frame with a sparkling 67 but needed a birdie on the 18th to really put the pressure on Rose. The Northern Irishman bogeyed the final hole and finished two shots back at the end in third place.