Juvic Pagunsan moved virtually out of medal contention in his first-ever Olympic appearance after a hard-pressed 5-over 76 — or 2-over 215 in total — in the penultimate round of the men’s Olympic Golf tournament at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, Saturday.
A tough second round saw the 43-year-old golfer slip to a tie of 24th place. The Filipino finally took the course after a weather delay halted play the past two days.
Nonetheless, Pagunsan suffered a gloomy day in the course for the third round. He dropped five bogeys in the day scattered throughout the various holes.
The 2021 Mizuno Open champion took a hiccup in the front nine after another extra shot needed in No. 5, a hole he needed to take in extra as well the previous day.
The day went south for the Filipino veteran with four more bogeys in the back nine. Two pairs of back-to-back bogeys in Nos. 11-12 and 16-17 pushed Pagunsan down and out to a tie of 55th place after the day.
As of this writing, USA’s Xander Schauffele took the lead from Mexico’s Caros Ortiz after a 3-under in the day and 14-under overall with three holes to go for him. The Mexican is not far behind with just a stroke adrift after 16 holes.
Pagunsan looks to end his campaign strong as the tournament closes with Round 4 on Sunday.
