By Adrian Flores

STA. Rosa City—Filipino-Japanese Artemio Murakami turned in a decent even-par 70, far from his sizzling-hot eight-under-par 62 on opening day, but just enough to maintain solo leadership at The Country Club Invitational.

That performance at the par-70 The Country Club course was enough to hold off two amateurs Rufino Bayron and Antonio Asistio in the tournament sponsored by International Container Terminal Services Inc.

“The wind direction was so unpredictable today. Sometimes, it blew left, but after executing a shot, suddenly it will go right. It got me off-track,” Murakami said to Standard Today.

Teeing off at the back nine with only minimal winds present, Murakami carded his first birdie on the 13th from six feet and had a long 25-foot one on the 18th that offset his lone bogey on the 16th after a missed green in his second shot.

At the turn, the strong gusts practically got in the way of the Asian Tour campaigner. Although he canned a birdie on no. 1, he got into trouble on a deep rough on the right and dropped two strokes on no. 4. He made regulation pars the rest of the way.

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old protégé of Frankie Miñoza was atop the leaderboard with a 132 aggregate.

“Like I told you before, a super good round will come my way once in a while. Not today, though, for me. But I am very happy to get this over with. There are two days to look forward to,” Murakami also said.

Bayron (68) and Asistio (68), teammates in the ICTSI golf team, followed with 136 and 137, respectively. Jay Bayron was the next best professional with 138 after a 70.

Angelo Que, the 2007 TCC Invitational champ, completed the top five as he submitted a 72 for 140. Just five down from Murakami, he suffered the most as his putting deserted him. He had three three-putts and now stared at an eight-stroke deficit.

“Putting, obviously, was the main culprit,” was Que’s only explanation as he headed to the putting greens for a much-needed practice.

Defending champion Juvic Pagunsan also got beat by the winds with a double bogey, four bogeys and only one birdie for a 75 and 144, which practically dashed his hopes of retaining the title. Miñoza, whose reed-thin body even made him a dangerous competitor, barely made it with a 75 for 147.

A total of 29 players from the 36-man field made it to the final two rounds after making the cut pegged at seven-over 147. The biggest casualty of the day was inaugural champion Cassius Casas (2003) after a miserable 77 to go with his earlier 75.