Aussies show the way
By Dominic Menor
Subeditor

THE foreigners admitted they like the course. Judging by the low scores at the end of Day One of the 90th Philippine Open yesterday, there’s no doubt they did.
       The Australians seemed to find the most comfort around the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, which showed little resistance against the foreigners.
       The lowest score was submitted in the afternoon by Scott Strange. Ranked No. 16 in the Asian Tour UBS Order of Merit, the 29-year-old Australian finished with a 68.
       Simon Nash logged a 69 to lead two other Australians with under-par scores before noon.
       Lu Wei-lan and Yeh Chang-ting from Chinese-Taipei also had 69s.
       Cookie La’o, Angelo Que and Artemio Murakami led the RP hopefuls, most of whom fell by the wayside of the sprawling 7,053-yard Mandaluyong City East course. Local golf sensation Juvic Pagunsan finished even.
       After making a 20-foot eagle on the par-five fourth then birdieing the next hole to finish the front two shots under 36, La’o saved par in each of the nine holes to register a 70, a stretch run he was pleased with.
       “I was just very consistent,” La’o said. “I hit my drives well and I hit the greens. I wasn’t overly aggressive on the putts and I played steady golf for 12 straight pars.”
       Que could have registered the best score by a Filipino. But he bogeyed four times—all in the front—that nearly leveled the five birdies he tallied for the day. He finished with a 71, the same score carded by Filipino-Japanese Murakami.
       “I’m a little disappointed,” said Que, ranked 49th on the Asian Tour UBS Order of Merit. “I tried to go for it on [No.5] but on my third shot I hit the bunker. After that, I made a few bad shots. I kinda drifted.
       “I need to keep my focus more. I need to keep on playing.”
       Murakami, who also had five birdies including a 30-foot putt on No.12, hooked into a hazard on the par-four No. 9, was penalized one stroke for playing a provisional ball, and finished the hole with a double bogey.
       The dreaded 17th hole, which rests on an elevated green and surrounded by six deep bunkers, didn’t do much damage to Murakami, La’o or Que.
       But not everyone escaped what many consider as the tournament’s “make or break” hole.
       Barry Hume of Scotland, who finished one shot behind Strange, missed long on the par-three hole, needed to chip over the green from two feet and finished with a bogey, his only one at the back nine.
       “I couldn’t remember the eighth hole for the life of me,” Hume said. “I didn’t know where to hit it. I wrecked my brains to think of the shape of the hole, and it really cost me a shot as I hit it too far to the left and was blocked out.”
       Rick Gibson of Canada, the RP Open winner in 2002 which was also played in Wack Wack, finished two under.
       “I think most of the memories I had in 2002 helped me today,” he said.
       Defending champion Adam Le Vesconte ended up with a 74. Another Australian Kane Webber, the winner of the last Asian Tour leg at the Macau Open last week, finished with a 79. The top 65 scores, including ties, make it to the cut.