Golf: Lascuna three back in Maybank Malaysian Open's first round

Antonio Lascuna, with a little help from his trusty putter, accounted for a five-under-par 67 to be just three strokes behind South Africa's Charl Schwartzel in the opening round of the Maybank Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Lascuna, playing only in his third regular Asian Tour tournament which stakes $2.5-million in prize money, was hot with seven birdies overall—three in the front nine and four at the back—and only two bogeys on Nos. 1 and 12.

 

He attributed his round to his excellent putting, a total of just 23 putts, which meant that he practically made only one putt a majority of the 18 holes at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

 

"The way I putted was unbelievable. I hope to win this one since it offers a lot of cash to the champion," Lascuna said of the Asian Tour and Europeant Tour co-sanctioned event.

Even hotter was Schwartzel, who sizzled with an eight-under-par 64, spiked by nine birdies and a bogey.

 

India's Vijay Singh came in next with a 65 while Louis Oosthuizen, also of South Africa, came in with a 66 for a share of third place with Jason Knutzon of the US and Jyoti Randhawa of India.

 

The other Filipinos in the field were Angelo Que, who did some fine tuning with his game along with national coach Bong Lopez to turn in a 73 while Mars Pucay came through with a 74. — Adrian Flores/JVP, GMA News