By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense golfer Juvic Pagunsan leaned on a strong finishing kick to capture the Golf Partner Pro-Am championship at Toride Kokusai Golf Club in Ibaraki, Japan on Sunday, May 21.

The Negros Occidental’s Murcia-native Pagunsan started the day with a one-stroke lead and ended up winning by two strokes at 23-under 257 to pocket the top prize of ¥12 million or around P4.8 million.

The 45-year-old Pagunsan pounced on the bogey of Japanese Taiga Semikawa on the first hole as he made a big two-shot swing and birdied the par-4 No. 1 to go 3-up at the par-70.

Pagunsan stayed on top the rest of the way, fending off a couple of threats from the locals, including from Ohira Sato, whose closing eight-under, bogey-free 62 fell short of stealing the crown from the Negrense golfer.

According to Pagunsan, it was not a perfect campaign for him in the tournament, but he was able to use his wealth of experience to prevail over his predominant Japanese opponents.

“I was able to win the championship by making full use of my experience and [physical] strength,” Pagunsan, who represented the country during the Tokyo Olympics held in Japan, said.

“My season so far has been up and down. Sometimes I play well, sometimes I play poorly. But I’m still there, hanging in there. I just hope to continue winning,” the Negrense golfer added.

This was the second championship of Pagunsan in Japan after ruling the Mizuno Open in 2021, which earned him a qualification for the British Open, but the Negrense opted to compete in the Olympics.

On the other hand, Semikawa birdied the last hole with a two-shot swing over Pagunsan as he salvaged a joint runner-up finish at 259 after a 67.

Filipino-American Justin delos Santos also charged back with a solid 63 and gained a joint 14th place effort at 265. He pocketed a cash prize of ¥944,000 for his placing./ASC, WDJ