In the rain-delayed first round of golf competition at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan, Juvic Pagunsan posted a five-under-par 66 and trailed hot-starting Austrian Sepp Straka by three strokes.
The pride of Bacolod made six birdies to one bogey in the sport’s second appearance at the Olympics, following its debut at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Pagunsan, 43, is the second Filipino to compete in the Olympics after Miguel Tabuena, and because to his iron play and good ball control, he finished tied for 5th to 6th position with Joachim Hansen of Denmark and Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela.
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is a stroke behind Straka, while Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico are tied for third and fourth with 65 apiece.
Pagunsan, who has competed on the par-71 golf course as part of the Japan PGA Tour, will tee off in the second round at 9:03 AM on Friday, hoping to keep up his good form.
Despite the fact that he was wearing a PH cap, Pagunsan’s shirt was devoid of the country’s insignia.
He’ll be on the same flight as Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti and Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent.
In the absence of wind and in the face of the select field’s exceptional shotmaking, the par-71 layout took a beating.
The lesser lights, on the other hand, eclipsed the major guns.
No. 3 Collin Morikawa, who had just won the British Open, was nowhere to be seen in the Top 10.
The Japanese ace tied for 20th place with Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner, and Hideki Matsuyama, the US Masters champion.
Xander Schauffele, the world No. 5 golfer, and Patrick Reed, the world No. 1 golfer, led Team USA in scoring with 68s.