Lascuña looks to bounce back at Pradera

Two weeks after a sorry playoff loss, Antonio Lascuña says he’s ready to bounce back, and it will be over a course that will test him to the hilt.

Deadly accurate but not as long as the younger guns in the field, Lascuña banners the Philippine Golf Tour’s P2 million ICTSI Pradera Verde field that tees off on Tuesday as he tries to make up from blowing a two-shot lead in regulation before losing in sudden death to Juvic Pagunsan at Riviera.

“That’s behind me now. That’s golf,” Lascuña told the Inquirer in Filipino during practice at Manila Southwoods Tuesday morning. “I will be at a distinct disadvantage there [at Pradera because of its length], but I still feel that I have a good chance.”

The well-manicured layout up north will favor the long hitters because of its sheer length—7,315 yards—but Lascuña feels that it’s still anybody’s race and that it will all boil down to whoever can scramble the best.

“Because of the length, a lot will be missing greens,” he said. “Whoever has the best short game will have an upperhand.”

Pagunsan has returned to the Japan Tour, but the tournament will see the return of Michael Bibat from injury. Bibat won the Eagle Ridge stop two months ago before a bad back forced him out of Riviera. INQ