After walking on edge, Pagunsan makes cut

LYTHAM ST ANNES, England—Reigning Asian Tour No. 1 Juvic Pagunsan made the halfway cut in his maiden British Open championship on Friday.

The 34-year-old Pagunsan thought he had blown his chances in the year’s third Major after a three-putt bogey on the last hole of his second round led to a two-over-par 72 and a two-day total of three-over-par 143.

Pagunsan had to wait for over nine hours before finding out that he had squeezed into the last two rounds.

Korean star KJ Choi, who also bogeyed his last hole en route to a 73, also made the cut with his similar 143.

Pagunsan struggled in the cold with three bogeys in his first seven holes before fighting back with successive birdies on eight and nine. He traded two more birdies against as many bogeys through 17 and a par at the last would have placed him in a good position.

“I wanted to make a par there to finish at two over but I made a three putt,” said Pagunsan after the second round. “A bit disappointing. My first putt was too strong. I thought it was going to be a bit slow as it was uphill and then a bit downhill. But my ball passed the hill and then just rolled down.”

He added that he did not have any feel with his hands when he teed off at 6:41 a.m. due to the cold.

“My hands couldn’t not feel the club. It was really hard. It got better on eight. At the start, my body was freezing but I was so happy with the way I played after that,” said Pagunsan. Asian Tour News