Forest Hills victory pushes Pucay up in Order of Merit

Mars Pucay jumped to second place in the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) Order of Merit (OOM) ranking after earning his maiden win in the Forest Hills Invitational that ended his title drought on the local scene. Pucay, one of the stars in the Asian and Mercedes-Benz tours, outclassed Elmer Salvador, last year’s pro with most victories, at Forest Hills. With it, Pucay won the P200,000 top prize that hiked his earnings to P493,321.

Artemio Murakami leads the race with P557,450 after five of the 13-stage tour. Jay Bayron, with two runner-up finishes at Mt. Malarayat and Sherwood Hills, lost grip and slid to third with P460,471. The tour’s OOM will have bearing in the Asian and Mercedes-Benz tours in the coming months. "It’ll be a bonus if I get away with the OOM title. Before Forest Hills, I just wanted to win and finally break the jinx. It’s really a morale-booster and I hope to keep this up in the next legs," Pucay said. Salvador, winner at Mt. Malarayat, the kickoff leg of this year’s circuit is in fourth with P402,746 winnings. Juvic Pagunsan, who dominated the field at the ICTSI Classic at Riviera last month, placed fifth with P316,996 followed by Sherwood leg winner Marvin Dumandan P266,973. Angelo Que, who also placed second at Southwoods, pocketed P257,571 for sixth. Orlan Sumcad P187,700, Antonio Lascuna P164,818 and Danny Zarate P162,627 completed the Top 8. From Malarayat, the local tour goes to the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Dasmarinas, Cavite for the seventh leg – the ICTSI Orchard Golf Championship – before shifting to the south for the provincial swing. Apo will host the eighth stage on July 14-16 for the Apo Golf Invitational. Pueblo de Oro in Cagayan de Oro will take its turn to stage the event on July 21-23 for the Pueblo de Oro Championship. The Cebu Country Club will host a leg of the tour for the first time in a long while as it stages the CCC Invitational on Aug. 11-13 before the circuit heads back to Luzon for the Royal Northwoods Championship on Oct. 6-8 at Royal Northwoods Golf and Country Club in San Rafael, Bulacan. The Valley Golf Club in Antipolo will host the penultimate leg on Nov. 10-12, the Valley Golf Challenge before the circuit winds up in Canlubang on Dec. 8-10 for the Tour Championship. – JVP, Adrian Flores, GMANews.TV