4 share Phl Golf lead; 7 Pinoys make cut

A treacherous bogey on hole No. 17 spoiled Australian Travis Smyth’s golden opportunity to end the second round of the Philippine Golf Championship at solo top spot.

Instead, the Aussie settled for a share of the lead with opening day leader Sarut Vongchaisit of Thailand and two South Koreans on a fair-weather Friday at the grand East Course of the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.

Smyth pocketed an eagle on par-5 No. 14 for a one-stroke lead he maintained in the next two holes before disaster struck. Smyth, who also bogeyed on the same hole in Day 1, ended the round in a tight group of leaders with 5-under-par 139 in the Asian Tour season-opener presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and National Golf Association of the Philippines and sponsored by BingoPlus.

“Yeah, so No. 17 is arguably one of the hardest par 3’s ever if you miss the green,” said Smyth, who ended the day with a 3-under-par 69.

“I hit it in the worst spot possible, which was left. So, I was in the bunker, down slope, greens massively raised. I was trying to actually hit it over the green on the other side because there was no way I could hold that green. But it was so elevated that I couldn’t even get it up on top,” the Sydney native added.

Teeing off at No. 1 in the afternoon flight, the Aussie birdied thrice against a bogey on par-4 No. 8 for a good front nine run. He was steadier in the early goings of the back nine with a birdie on No. 11, followed by back-to-back pars before going two strokes under in the 14th.

“Found the fairway off the tee, then my second shot — with a 4-iron — landed on the green, just seven feet from the hole. That was the best second shot in my life. Made an eagle putt,” Smyth said with a grin.

Vongchaisit, who led by a stroke entering the round, paid dearly with three bogeys and carded a 71.

“Front nine was not too good for me, but definitely a good comeback on the back nine, shooting three under on the back nine, so I’m definitely happy about it,” the Thai said.

Koreans Juenghun Wang had a bogey-free run for a 70, tied with compatriot Wooyoung Choo to join Smyth and Vongchaisit.

Tied at fifth to sixth were South African Ian Snyman, who shared the $10,000 reward with Thai Suteepat Prateeptienchai and Tomoyo Ikemura of Japan for a best round of 68, and American Marcus Plunkett, just a stroke behind the lead pack.

Two shots behind the leaders were Taiwan Chien-yao Hung and Shunyat Hak of Hong Kong.

7 Pinoys advance

Meanwhile, only seven Filipino bets led by Brycen Ko and Keanu Jahns survived the cut after the second round as 35 other local entries, including former Philippine Open champions Angelo Que, Gerald Rosales, and Clyde Mondilla, as well as former Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner Antonio Lascuña, exited the prestigious $500,000 event.

Ko and Jahns are three shots behind with 142 at ninth to 12th place.

Fidel Concepcion and Carl Jano Corpus landed in a 13-man bunch in the 18th to 30th with 144, Jhonel Ababa and Rupert Zaragosa were in 42nd to 52nd with 146.

Fil-Briton Enrique Dimayuga was the last Filipino to make the cut on the number after David Boote missed a par putt on the ninth, his final hole.