Ladies play for double the money; Pagunsan fancied in men’s field

Juvic Pagunsan plays on the local tour for the first time since 2019. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Ladies Philippine Golf Tour will be dangling a total of P1.5 million for its Eagle Ridge stop at the Aoki layout in General Trias in Cavite, even as Juvic Pagunsan’s return makes the men’s version of the event a truly exciting one.

From playing for a total pot of P750,000 per stop this season, the Aoki leg will be a far richer event for the ladies as Chanelle Avaricio tees off as the slight favorite to beat basically the same field she has done in three of the year’s first six legs.

“My goal is to keep on improving and hopefully, produce more wins,” said Avaricio, who opened with a tour record eight-under-par 64 before ruling the Pradera Classic by six shots.

Pagunsan, meanwhile, joins another returnee in Angelo Que as the pair takes time off from their busy schedules in the lucrative Japan Tour to be the players to beat in the P2 million event.

Fresh from an 11-shot win in the first-ever Manila Southwoods Pro-Am last week, Pagunsan is playing with razor sharp precision after a 19-under tally over two rounds at tough-as-nails Masters and 18 holes over the Legends.

He last played on the tour in 2019 and left for Japan after four straight victories.

Antonio Lascuña and Frankie Miñoza are also playing together with the younger generation of stars led by Ira Alido in the event organized by the Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Harmie Constantino, who logged her first two career victories at Aoki in her pro debut last year, seeks to snap out of a mini-slump and extend her reign at one of Eagle Ridge’s four championship courses, while Chihiro Ikeda, with a victory and a runner-up finish in the last three stops of the circuit put up by ICTSI, also exudes confidence and ready for another crack at the crown. INQ