ICTSI Tour resumes in Bacolod Wednesday

MANILA—Antonio Lascuña will be coming into the Southern swing of the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour this week in sharp form and the Asian Tour veteran hopes to snap a long, winless spell in the local circuit.

After three third place finishes this year and a Top 10 finish in Malaysia yesterday, the 42-year-old from Davao is tipped as one of the favorites in the 54-hole event set at the Marapara layout in Bacolod starting Wednesday.

“It’s been a long time since I last won,” Lascuña said in Filipino. “I have been wanting to score a win in the ICTSI-PGT circuit, but I have been very unlucky so far.”

Lascuña had two runner-up finishes last year, including a playoff loss to Benjie Magada at Orchard. Early this year, Lascuña, playing with a swollen foot, blew a three-stroke lead in the final round of the rich The Country Club Invitational.

Juvic Pagunsan remains the favorite in the P1 million event, having won three of the first four legs. With the tournament to be played in his hometown, the 33-year-old ex-caddy from Binitin is even more a serious title threat.

The traditional pro-am, meanwhile, kicks off the event tomorrow with Pagunsan, Lascuña and the other leading pros seeing action along with officials and guests of the circuit’s chief backers.

MJ Carr Golf Management, Inc., Srixon, Callaway, Unilab, BDO, Titleist, Sharp, Custom Clubmakers , PinoyGolfer.com, Inquirer Golf, Omnisource International, A Round of Golf, Studio 23, Balls, and Dynamic Sports are the other sponsors.

After the stop at Marapara, the Tour goes to Sta. Barbara in Iloilo next week before the field travels to Apo Golf Club in Davao on Aug. 10 to 12 for the Apo Invitational which Pagunsan will seek to win for the third straight year.

Del Monte Golf Club in Bukidnon will host the next leg on Aug. 17 to 19 followed by the $65,000 Aboitiz Invitational in Cebu at the Cebu Country Club on Aug. 31 to Sept. 3.