YOUNG Charles Hong led the local charge in the morning, while veterans Mars Pucay and Frankie Miñoza matched him in the afternoon but six foreign bets seized the day at the start of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Philippine Open on Thursday at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

Lu Tze-shyan of Chinese Taipei looked on the way to securing the solo lead, getting to as low as five under, but a nervy final few holes saw him drop into a tie at 69 with Americans Matthew Rosenfeld, Ben Fox and Anthony Kang, Singapore’s Mardan Mamat and Japan’s Azuma Yano.

The 31-year-old Lu birdied four in a row from No. 12 (his third hole) and got to five under after 11 holes but struggled in the home stretch, dropping two shots on the last four holes.

“I saw that I was leading and I was happy, but I got a bit nervous as well. On No. 3 the TV cameras started to follow me. This is the first time I’m playing well on the Asian Tour and I’m not used to it,” said Lu.

A slew of local veterans started early in the cool morning weather but it was young Hong who stood out, coming up with a 70.

The 23-year-old, seeing action in his first Philippine Open, was even at the turn but played steadier going back, with three birdies in the final six holes.

“Overall, the round was good. But it was my short game that went realy well...helped me make some good saves and hit some birdies,” said Hong.

He dropped a shot on the par-4 No. 12 but got it right back the next hole and came up with superb short irons to save par after errant second shots on Nos. 14 and 15.

Hong pushed his second shot on No. 14 and hit a tree, but made the 30-yard pitch seem easier than it actually was, coming to within seven feet to save par.

He left himself the same distance for a third shot on the par-4 No. 15 and again came up with a fine shot to six feet.

He then sealed his round with birdie-birdie-par—hitting 4-iron to five feet on No. 16 and making a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17.

Pucay hit two birdies in a flawless front nine and got to three under with another birdie on the par-five No. 13, but suffered his only bogey of the day when he failed to get up and down from the bunker on the par-3 No. 16.

The 41-year-old Pucay, second behind Kevin Wentworth in the 1997 Open, was pleased with his opening-round 70, although he knows he needs to do better and make some audacious moves when course conditions allow it.

“Buti ngayon nagho-hold ’yung green, hindi kagaya nung past years, kaya pwedeng i-attack,” said Pucay, 49th in last year’s Asian Tour Order of Merit, noting that wind was a nonfactor, thus many players scored under par.

“Alam mo naman ang Wack Wack, pag mahangin, mahirap talaga,.”

Miñoza, meanwhile, had back-to-back bogeys from No. 7 before getting his first birdie on No. 9. He started the back nine with a bogey but hit four birdies to finish at 70.

Miguel Tabuena and Antonio Lascuna each scored 71, while Jhonnel Ababa, Ferdie Aunzo and Elmer Salvador had 72s.

Rosenfeld had a promising start with birdie on No. 2 but hit disaster and had a double-bogey on No. 7 and dropped another shot on the next hole.

But he quickly recovered with a birdie on No. 9 and went on a scorching run under overcast skies, stringing four birdies from the 11th.

“I got the juices flowing out there a little bit,” said Rosenfeld.

“The key is not getting too upset,” he added, noting that he went from one under to two over on two holes early in the round and getting back on track.

Yano, a three-time winner on the Japan Tour playing here on a sponsor’s invitation, was one under after nine holes then had three birdies against a bogey on the homeward nine.

The 34-year-old reckons he should be able to improve his play in the next rounds but needs to be careful not to become overeager on the course that is not too long but whose narrow fairways could be unforgiving.

“I could birdie some of the easier holes but made some bad tee shots for my bogeys,” said Yano. “Managed to get some good up and down for pars as well, which you need to do here.”

“My overall game was good...It’s tough to get birdies as the greens have some slope on them.”

Mamat, a veteran of the European and Asian Tours, knows patience is needed in the game—and fellow veteran Frankie Miñoza reminded him of that—especially on a course like this.

“He’s [Miñoza] got a lot of experience playing on this course. He said to be patient...things are going to happen...just be patient and move on,” said Mamat, who had nines of 35-34 highlighted by a birdie on No. 17 after dropping a shot on the previous hole.

“The course is not playing easy. For a 69 in the first round, I’m very happy with this.”