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Pagunsan gunning for home victory in Philippines

Rising star Juvic Pagunsan hopes to "smile" his way to victory at the US$300,000 Philippine Open next week.

Pagunsan has come close on several occasions in his home Open and after enjoying a tremendous rookie season on the Asian Tour where he finished seventh on the UBS Order of Merit, he is now determined to break through with a maiden triumph.

"I will certainly try hard to win," said Pagunsan. "Every year, I have a chance to do it and it's always good to play in front of my home crowd. I like the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club as it's a tough challenge."

Three years ago when he was still an amateur, Pagunsan finished runner-up behind American Edward Michaels after entering the final round as the co-leader. Last year at Wack Wack, the slightly built Filipino was also in contention before settling for a top-10 finish.

Pagunsan has certainly captured the imagination of golf pundits following his impressive debut on the Asian Tour last season where the highlight came at the UBS Hong Kong Open where he led down the back nine on the final day before settling for second place. He later won the Rookie of the Year honour.

"Previously when I was in contention, I would get very nervous. But now, I'm okay. I always smile a lot and I think my outing in Hong Kong shows that I can contend. There's a big difference now," he said.

Pagunsan competed on the US PGA Tour's Sony Open earlier this month and although he missed the halfway cut, he believes the experience was useful.

"I didn't play well in Hawaii. I arrived late because of a visa problem and it was hard to adjust to the time difference. I was jetlagged but it was a good experience. It was an honour to play on the PGA Tour for the first time.

"I had the chance to play with Ben Curtis in the practice round. It was by chance as he came up on the back nine and joined me on the tee. You don't get to play with a British Open champion every day," he said.

Australian Scott Strange will defend his title at Wack Wack next week and the field will include the likes of former Asian number one Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, Filipino legend Frankie Minoza, former champions Rick Gibson of Canada, Chinese Taipei's Wang Ter-chang and Australian Adam Le Vesconte.

The Philippine Open is the third leg of the 2007 Asian Tour season which includes a minimum 29 tournaments offering a record of US$26.5 million in total prize money.

January 25, 2007