Pinoy bet Pagunsan receives Asian Tour awards

BANGKOK, Thailand—The Asian Tour was in a festive mood over the weekend as it ended a banner 2011 season with the Awards Gala, the last official function of the year, at the St. Regis Hotel over the weekend. In the Awards Gala, the Asian Tour handed over to the Philippines' Juvic Pagunsan the Order of Merit (OOM) title and the special Players' Player of the Year Award, which was born out of the votes made by the more than 150-player roster in the elite Asian golf circuit. Pagunsan, who hails from Murcia in Negros Occidental, topped the OOM with earnings totaling $788,298, or about P34-million. A majority of it, or P28.8-million came from the $6-million Singapore Open, where he was runner up to Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano. The 33-year-old, who has a sweet swing and mean short game, had three top 10 finishes in tournaments in Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore. He was at 64th place before November before he ended his magical run at 10th spot at the UBS Hong Kong Open. "I would like to thank the Asian Tour and its sponsors for staging world-class events for the year. Without the Asian Tour, there is no Juvic Pagunsan," said Pagunsan, as he accepted his two crowns plus a BlackBerry playbook and mobile phone as part of his prize. In the current Asian Tour books, Pagunsan will be recorded as the first Filipino as Asia's No. 1. Historically, though, it was Frankie Miñoza, who was the first Pinoy to do so, in the 1990s in the old Asia Pacific Golf Circuit (APGC). However, the Asian Tour does not recognize the APGC. "I'm very happy to win them all. I dedicate them to my family and close friends," also said Pagunsan, who was overjoyed when his wife Len and 9-year-old daughter LJ traveled here to witness the Awards Gala and to enjoy a short vacation in the Thailand's shopping capital. Overall, the Asian Tour sanctioned 24 tournaments with a cumulative prize purse of $50-million, an all-time in the Asian Tour record. The year saw the revered Philippine Open presented by ICTSI and Cityneon Macau Open returning to the regular schedule. There were four events that were staged, namely: Indonesian Masters, Panasonic Open India, CJ Invitational by Asian Tour honorary member K.J. Choi and the maiden Thailand Golf Championship, the AT season-ender won by England's and World No. 3 Lee Westwood at the Amata Spring. Asian Tour Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han said the 2011 season will be remembered very much for Pagunsan's stunning rise to the top "Our congratulations to Juvic Pagunsan for winning the Order of Merit. It is tremendous that we herald our first number one from the Philippines and I believe it will greatly inspire other Filipinos to follow in his footsteps," said Han. "We certainly enjoyed a memorable 2011 season with a wide-range of tournaments and lucrative purses on offer across the region for our talented membership. Through these tournaments, we witnessed the emergence of many new champions as well as talented young players, who will be the flagbearers of Asian golf for the years to come." "The launch of four new tournaments and the return of the Philippine Open and Macau Open continue to reflect Corporate Asia's firm support behind the Asian Tour and our ambition to grow the game at the highest level in this region," added Han. — JVP, GMA News