Pucay hole-in-one highlights his strong Asian Tour start

Bangkok — Mars Pucay made a rare hole-in-one as his 15th wedding anniversary gift to his wife Leslie at the start of the $300,000 (P13.8-million) Asian Tour International on Thursday played at the windy course of the highly-rated Suwan Golf and Country Club in Thailand. "I'm sure Leslie's very happy with this. This is special for her," Pucay said to GMANews.TV after signing his card at the scorers table. Pucay scored a sizzling three-under-par 69 to trail by one off co-leaders American Jason Knutzon, Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Brazilian Lucas Lee. Filipino ace Frankie Miñoza and Antonio Lascuna settled with two-under 70 each to stay within sight of the title in the Asian Tour’s opening tournament of the 2010 season. Defending champion James Kamte of South Africa, whose clubs arrived on Wednesday night, was four under through 10 holes but stumbled home with five bogeys to settle for a one-over 73. 6th career ace Pucay recorded his sixth career ace at Suwan's beautiful third hole, a short 179-yarder guarded by a bunker on the left side of the green and a large body of water far left, where club selection is crucial to keep the ball from being swept away from the rush of strong winds. He used a six-iron and a Titleist Pro V1 ball. "I made a six iron which bounced on the green and rolled in. It’s my career sixth hole in one. I was thinking there might be a prize but it was for the pro-am," said Pucay, who hails from Benguet in the northern part of the Philippines. Teeing off at the 10th hole to start the round, he immediately gave up one stroke with a bogey. He instantly leveled with a birdie on the next but was setback by two with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 16 for a two-over 38 at the turn. He never gave up. In fact, before that ace, Pucay drove 290 yards on the second hole, hit a five wood approach to about three feet for an easy birdie. On the fourth, he hit it close, too, but missed on the birdie opportunity which, according to him was okay, because he made another birdie on the fifth hole. From two over, suddenly he's right there near the leaders. "Hopefully this year, it’ll be time for me to win on the Asian Tour. I’ve been playing for many years on this Tour and it’s time for me. Looking back, I think I’m going to play more aggressively this year, especially with my putting. My back nine was just superb. I’ll charge a bit more now when I’m in position to win," Pucay said. Miñoza aging with style Miñoza, who at 50 is aging like wine, turned in one of his best opening rounds. He mixed six birdies with four bogeys in a rollercoaster-like day for a two-under 70 (35-35). It was, however, something not to be overlooked by the other competitors because they know that the Philippines' No. 1 player can come up with a win any time. "Definitely, it's a very good score but I feel I could do more. There were par-saves which I didn't make," said Miñoza referring to his bogeys on Nos. 4, 7, 13 and 18. Still, most of the players here are wary of Miñoza's capabilities. That's how respected Miñoza is in the Asian Tour. Lascuna, too, sparkled at Suwan. He roared to four-under in 11 holes but limped with a double bogey on the par-three 16th and bogey on the par-four 12th that sandwiched a birdie on No. 15. He ended with a 33-37 card to join Miñoza and 10 others at 12th place. Juvic Pagunsan, last week’s TCC Invitational runner-up, and sophomore pro Ferdie Aunzo were a shot back with one-under 71s while Marvin Dumandan carded an even 72. Angelo Que, who is coming here as one of the favorites, carded a two-over 74 and might be in danger of missing the cut. "It's too early to tell. I have to turn it around (Friday)," was Que’s limited reply. Jay Bayron joined Que with a 74 while Artemio Murakami got through three holes before retiring. World junior champ shares lead Meanwhile, Kiradech, Knutzon and Lee shared the lead. The 20-year-old Kiradech, a former world junior champion, rolled in five birdies to join Knutzon and Lee atop the leaderboard. Entering the week, the burly Kiradech declared his intention of breaking through for a first title in Asia and a round helped greatly by his big-hitting game pushed him to the forefront. “I’m very happy. I hit many wedges into the greens and got four birdies from close range. This is my chance to win. I’ll try to keep it up as it’s my goal to win on the Asian Tour," said Kiradech, who finished 30th on the Order of Merit in his rookie season last year. Knutzon rose from his sick bed to set the morning pace. The two-time Asian Tour winner has been down with fever for the past two days but he lived up to the adage ‘Beware the sick golfer’ by firing five birdies against a lone bogey. “It’s pretty amazing when you have something else to think about," said a weary Knutzon. “Luckily it was pretty cool this morning which helped but I was kind of gassing it in the last few holes. Anytime you shoot under par, it should make you feel a bit better." Lee, who is of Korean origin, made the most of his Asian Tour debut by tying for the lead late in the day, thanks to a birdie at his last hole. “I hit a lot of greens and made the putts I needed to make today. I wasn’t hitting a lot of fairways," said the 22-year-old, who graduated from Qualifying School last month. – Adrian Flores, GMANews.TV