THIRTY-YEAR old Negrense pro golfer Juvic Pagunsan, the smooth-swinging shotmaker who had his golfing roots at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club in Binitin, Murcia, bucked a last hole bogey and came up with a solid round of six-under par 66 last Wednesday to establish a three-stroke clubhouse lead over veteran campaigner Antonio Fernando at the start of the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour’s Apo Classic at the Apo Gold and Country Club in Davao City.

Pagunsan, the former golf awardee of the Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines Bacolod’s Annual Scoop Awards for Outstanding Negrense Athletes, on a break from the Asian Tour where he tallied one victory, made four birdies in each of the nines against two bogeys as heavy rains battered the last two days of action in the soggy tree-lined course where organizers were forced to use the preferred lie format in the 54-hole tournament.

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But reports said Pagunsan failed to complete a seven-under card, missing the green on the 18th and failed to rescue a par from around five feet for a 33-33 round, which was still enough to put him on top of the leaderboard in this third leg of the circuit sponsored by International Container Terminal Services Inc. (HCV)