BAGUIO boy now Canlubang-based Mars Pucay finished stronger in his last holes to eke out a third place finish in the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei during the weekend.
Pucay, three shots behind Chan Shih-chang at the start of the final round, moved within one off the lead after a birdie on No. 10 for a five-under total as the frontrunners struggled in tough playing condition at the Linkou International golf course.
Pucay reeled back from three straight bogeys from No. 12 and settled for third with a closing 74, as Lu Wei-chih rallied with a 69 to snatch the crown.
But the Filipino bet cracked under pressure, making three straight bogeys before coming up with a run of pars to save a 74 and secure solo third in the $300,000 event.
Pucay shot a second straight 1-under-par 71 and moved up to solo third from sixth place after the third round.
With his earlier rounds of 70-71, Pucay assembled a 54-hole total of 212, just three strokes off Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang, who held on to the lead with a battling 70 in the third day of the competition.
Pucay had nines of 35-36 to sustain his charge for a maiden Asian Tour title, but the two other Filipinos, Juvic Pagunsan and Elmer Salvador, who survived the halfway cut, lost ground.
Pagunsan totaled 221 (72-74-75) and was in a 13-man tie for 36th. Salvador found himself among the tail-enders at 225 (70-78-77).
The 36-hole casualties were Artemio Murakami (72-77), Michael Bibat (76-73), Angelo Que (74-77) and Miguel Tabuena (83-78).
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