World Cup of Golf: Antonio Lascuna breaks into top 10

Melbourne, Nov 21 (IANS) Filipino Antonio Lascuna battled to a one-under-par 70 for tied ninth place in the individual category of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf on Thursday, saying it was one of his best ever rounds.

Teeing up at the iconic Royal Melbourne Golf Club without the benefit of a practice round, the 42-year-old traded two birdies against a lone bogey to trail co-leaders Kevin Streelman of the United States and Dane Thomas Bjorn by four shots in the $8 million tournament.

Countryman Angelo Que stumbled late in the day with a bogey and double bogey over his closing two holes to settle for a 74 as the Philippines team ended the opening day in tied 11th place in the team category with a 144 total, seven shots behind the US.

“It’s an exciting golf course. The greens are so hard. To shoot one under, I’m very happy. The course design does not have a straight forward hole. There are so many dogleg holes which is interesting,” said Lascuna.

“I didn’t play a practice round, so it made it a bit hard for me today. My caddie was just telling me to aim for the tree or something. I’m really happy with this score. If I had shot even par, I would have been super happy.”