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MARS
PUCAY likes to say that golf is not an easy
game. Whether he is playing in the Asian Tour or the
Mercedes-Benz Tour, he realizes how tough, arduous and
absolutely bewildering the game can be.
But when
Pucay talks about his championship run at the Asean Golf
Tour (AGT) Active Mt. Malarayat Championship last year,
he says he himself couldn’t imagine he was able to pull
it off.
Pucay
dominated the Malarayat course with a 69 and a 68 in the
final two rounds to complete a come-from-behind victory
over countrymen Rey Pagunsan and Orlan Sumcad in the
then fledging pro tour.
“Even if
it puzzles me to this day, it was one of the best times
of my career. It’s something that doesn’t come very
often. Of course, I will keep in mind what I did back
then,” Pucay told Greenside Chip.
Pucay,
who ranks second in the Mercedes-Benz Tour’s Order of
Merit (OM) with $20,611.83 (P906,000), is hoping to win
again at Malarayat in the $50,000 ICTSI-Mount Malarayat
Championship which starts today.
If he
does, Pucay will be assured of an $8,126 first prize
check and a big possibility that he will overtake Angelo
Que, the OM leader with $24,083.50 (P1.06-million).
“First
and foremost, I am hungry for the title. The OM
leadership is not my priority at this point,” Pucay, 37,
said.
However,
he quickly pointed out that the OM is equally important,
too. “If I win the next tournaments, surely I’ll get
the top spot. Topping it would give me some sort of
incentives. But for now, winning is everything.”
Easy-does-it Lascuna aiming for something higher
WITHOUT
a doubt, Antonio Lascuna is a formidable talent.
However, he’s already has this habit of catching up in
the final round. He’s a mean golfer and is gifted with
putter and yet he has not been hoisting the trophy too
often. He has the game—and the head—to be at the top,
but somehow winning has been elusive to the Asian Tour
veteran.
“I
cannot explain to you how difficult it is to be in my
situation now. I keep telling myself not to give up, to
go on fighting every time. It seems that Lady Luck has
not been on my side,” Lascuna also told Greenside Chip.
Lascuna,
37, would usually start a tournament hovering within the
top 20 and then be at the top 15 at the end of the cut.
But come the third round and the dusky golfer from
Mindanao is at his best.
The
problem with this style, according to his friends, is
that he loses steam toward the end, most especially in
the crucial stages of the game.
“They
say that it is a bad habit and I believe it is. Maybe
that’s something I have to work on and be a better
golfer in the next tournaments,” he said. |
