Spain’s Pastor Marcos stumbled with a last-hole bogey and fell to a three-way tie for the lead at 70 in a windy start in the 2019 PGT Qualifying School for foreign players at Splendido Taal Golf Club in Laurel, Batangas late Tuesday.

Marcos blew a four-under card after 11 holes with a wobbly finish marred by back-to-back bogeys from No. 13 and dropped another stroke on the 18th that negated his fifth birdie on the 15th for a 33-37 card.

That enabled Japanese Kei Takahashi and Korean Oh Ho Jun to gain a piece of the lead with the duo likewise failing to check a shaky windup at the frontside of the challenging layout. Takahashi went three-under with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 but bogeyed the eighth for a 36-34 while Oh holed out with a bogey on the par-5 ninth for a pair of 35s.
Former Q-School topnotcher Toru Nakajima bounced back from an opening 38 with three birdies in a solid stint at the back, saving a 71 for solo fourth while American Sean Talmadge, Aussie Fidel Concepcion and Japanese Makoto Iwasaki, Yuji Hirose and Yudai Suzuki matched par 72s to get into early contention for coveted berths in this year’s 12-leg Philippine Golf Tour organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., which kicks off in April with The Country Club Invitational.

The top 40 plus ties from the starting 104-player field after 36 holes will advance to the last two rounds with the top 17 plus ties earning Category 6 sports and the rest to be included in Category 8 of the 2019 PGT starting fields of the circuit put up by ICTSI.

Seven players turned in identical 73s, including Charles Lee and Andy Kang of the US, Japanese Rio Mori, Kenichi Iwao and Ryo Nishimura, Aussie Calum Juniper and Thai Tawan Phongpun, while Raiki Okamoto, Ryui Hashimoto and Yuta Iso of Japan and Aussie Nathan Mann carded similar 74s.