Que shares Black Mountain lead with 2 Japanese bets

HUA HIN, Thailand – Angelo Que fired a brilliant two eagles and four birdies as against one bogey for a seven-under-par 65 to share the overall lead with Japanese Tetsuji Hiratsuka and Daisuke Maruyama in the $600,000 Black Mountain Masters, the season-ending event of the Asian Tour. Lee Sung of Korea, Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat and Atthaphon Prathumannee, Simon Griffiths of Scotland, and Anthony Kang of the US each turned in a 66 to make it an interesting drive for the title in the Asian Tour's finale. "The eagles were perfect. It got all my competitive juices going. My caddy and I look at those (eagles) as lucky shots. Imagine, my blast out of the bunker landed into the cup on the sixth, then I holed out a 20-foot putt on the 13th," said a smiling Que. A bogey on No. 18, a relatively easy hole as Que describes it, made him cringe a little. "Normally if I shoot seven under with a bogey on the last, I'll be so mad and depressed. But you know what, I still shot seven under. It’s just a bogey. I think looking at things that way helps a lot," he said. Que won his third Asian Tour title in August in Malaysia, but luck did not side with him after that as he became tight and eager to win another crown. "I cleared myself of all negativities heading to this week. I'll just let my game flow, do whatever I can to win and just play," he said. While Que is ahead of the pack, countryman Antonio Lascuna had a decent round of a two-under 70. He had a three-birdie, one-bogey stint in the front nine but slowed down with one birdie and a bogey coming home. "Angel (Que) really played very well. He was so hot today," said Lascuna. Juvic Pagunsan churned out a 72, Gerald Rosales a 73 and Michael Bibat 7a 4. They need to score in the high 60s to make the halfway cut. A blazing finish with four closing birdies put Hiratsuka in the hunt for his third Asian Tour victory of the season. "I hit it very solid but struggled with my putting on my front nine (started on the 10th tee). It started to click in my homeward nine and I sank four straight birdies, which was a great way to end my round," said Hiratsuka, who won the Air Bagan Myanmar Open and Queen’s Cup in Thailand this year. Chapchai, holder of the 72-hole world scoring record, sank seven birdies to shoot up in the leaderboard. The burly Thai is hoping to end his year on a winning note after struggling with a back injury all season. "This year, I’ve struggled. Next year, maybe I will come back. I’m still not 100 percent, probably 80 or 90 percent." – Adrian Flores, JVP, GMANews.TV