Jhonnel Ababa shot a gutsy one-over par 73 but the Philippines settled for a nine-over 225 for fourth at the start of the Nomura Cup paced by host South Korea at the Namseoul Country Club in South Korea yesterday.
Ababa, back in the team after missing the Putra Cup tilt last month, made an impressive start of two birdies in the first three holes and gunned down three more in the next 12 but fumbled with two bogeys and two double bogeys for a 37-36 card.
He was one-under heading into the 18th but dropped two strokes on the par-4 hole for a 73 as he dropped to joint sixth in the individual competition of the biennial event also known as the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship.
Koreans M.H. Kim and JH Yoon and Taiwanese CY Hung all fired two under par 70s to post a one-shot lead over another Taiwanese FH Yang, who carded a 71, in the individual race while KH Lee, also of Korea, matched par 72.
