Pucay salvages top 10 finish

SHAH ALAM, Selangor, Malaysia—Mars Pucay capped a sizzling weekend show with a 5-under-par 67 Saturday to salvage a top 10 finish in the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters where his compatriot Jonel Ababa finished dead last after contending in the first three rounds.

Carrying the momentum of a 68 in the third round after earlier scores of 73-71, Pucay wound up with a 279 total to tie for eighth place with Marcus Booth of Australia, seven strokes behind Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant who claimed a record 14th Asian Tour title.

Pucay picked up $9,044 for his strongest finish in the current Tour although it was Ababa who held the spotlight among the Filipinos at the start of the final 18 holes as he trailed Wiratchant by five strokes in a tie for third with earlier rounds of 68-69-71.

But in a cruel turnaround, the rookie Ababa completely lost his touch, struggling home with a weekend duffer’s score of 88 (45-43) to end up in 73rd place at 16-over 296.

Miguel Tabuena, also catching fire in the last two rounds with a 70-69, tied for 19th at 283 and won $4,508. Antonio Lascuña had a  284 worth $3,919 while Angelo Que was three strokes back at 287 and earned $2,420.

As last placer, Ababa won $806.

The 45-year-old Thaworn shot a three-under-par 69 in the final round for a winning total of 16-under-par 272 at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club. Asian Tour News