JAKARTA, March 10 - Filipino Juvic Pagunsan will have an ace up his sleeve when he parades his silky skills at this month’s Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia PGA Championship, presented by Indonesia Port Corporation.
The U.S. $1 million tournament from March 27 - 30 is being played at Damai Indah Golf’s Bumi Serpong Damai course, where Pagunsan claimed his first professional victory in 2007.
He won the Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational on the highly-rated Jack Nicklaus-designed course after blasting a final round seven-under 65 for a winning total of 19-under-par 269.
The Filipino romped home in style with a birdie on the 17th and an eagle at the par-five 18th to finish a shot ahead of India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Pagunsan — joint runner up at last year’s tournament — is one of host of big name players to confirm for this month’s event, which will be jointly sanctioned by OneAsia and the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) and is the season-opener for both circuits.
Major winners John Daly from the United States and Y.E. Yang from Korea are also taking part in the tournament, won last year by Korean Choi Ho-sung.
Pagunsan wrote a slice of history in 2011 when he became the first Filipino to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
While he didn’t win a tournament that year, four top-10 finishes — including runner-up at the cash-rich Barclays Singapore Open — saw him rise to the top. He had a putt to win in a play-off against Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, but just missed.
A year earlier he lifted the ASEAN PGA Tour Order of Merit trophy, helped by a memorable seven-shot victory at the 2010 Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand.
Pagunsan enjoyed a brilliant amateur career that saw him clean up in 2005, winning the SEA Games in Manila in both the individual and team events, as well as the national amateur Opens of the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.
With such credentials, the 35-year-old from Canlubang Golf Club outside Manila will be one of the favorites at the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia PGA Championship, presented by Indonesia Port Corporation.
Situated alongside the impressive Cisadane River west of Jakarta, Bumi Serpong Damai — popularly known by locals as BSD — is framed by the upmarket housing estates of Serpong.
Enjoy Jakarta is the capital province’s tourism portal, while the Indonesia Port Corporation is a parastatal responsible for the country’s vast harbor and ship-berthing facilities scattered across the archipelago of around 18,000 islands and serving the world’s fourth most populous nation.
The tournament is promoted by World Sport Group (WSG) for a third time, with the company drawing on its vast experience in sponsorship, media and event management to ensure an outstanding event is staged.
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