Marcos Pastor fired a five-under 67 to open a two-stroke lead over former Singapore Amateur champion Choo Tze Huang at the start of the Philippine Golf Tour Asia third season Qualifying Tournament at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac Tuesday.
Pastor spiked his 33-34 round with an eagle on the par-5 ninth as the Spanish bet lined himself up for another Q-School honors after topping the local circuit’s PGT elims at Splendido last February.
Choo missed joining Pastor at the helm with a double-bogey on No. 16 but his 34-35 card, that included six birdies against one bogey, still put him in early contention for one of the spots in the tournament proper of the third season of the region’s newest circuit which kicks off with the Luisita Championship next week.
The top 65 plus ties after 36 holes from the starting field of 97 will advance to the last two days with the top 40 and ties gaining Category 6 berths for the new PGT Asia season.