Lesser lights Engino, Rho lead in Bacolod after 65s

Albin Engino guns down four back nine birdies. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Bacolod native Albin Engino gunned down four back nine birdies to claim a piece of the lead with South Korea’s Hyun Ho Rho after a five-under-par 65 in the opening round of the P2.5 million ICTSI Bacolod Golf Challenge of the Philippine Golf Tour at the tree-lined layout formerly known as Binitin in Murcia town.

Growing up as a caddy at nearby Marapara, Engino had all parts of his game clicking in his latest bid to win for the first time as a pro, even as Rho, last year’s Q School medalist, used a hot start to carve out his version of a 65 as the duo held a one-shot lead over Aidric Chan and three others.

“There were so many good players that I just didn’t expect to be leading,” Engino said in Filipino after gunning down six birdies in a 34-31 effort. “Everything in my game was solid today, so I just waited for the birdies to come.”

Not an ideal start

Zanieboy Gialon, last week’s winner at Sta. Barbara who is seeking to win back-to-back titles for the first time, didn’t get the start that he wanted as two tee shots out of bounds at No. 1 doomed him to a 74 and needing a low second round to make the cut.

A lot of the lesser lights actually occupied a chunk of the top 10, with Randy Garalde, Reymon Jaraula and Ozeki Kakeru of Japan shooting 67s to be two behind.

Antonio Lascuña, the 54-year-old veteran, fired a 68 to be in the company of Jonel Ababa, Rupert Zaragosa and three others as a total of 26 players cracked par, counting former PH Open winner Angel Que, who turned in a 69 to be in an 11-man group. INQ