Miguel Tabuena reads the line of his putt on hole No 16 during the second round of the Philippine Open yesterday at the Wack Wac Golf and Country Club. He fired a 71 to stay in contention. (Bob Dungo, Jr.)

MANILA, Philippines  — Filipino golfers Antonio Lascuna and Ferdinand Aunzo fought their way into contention as they tied American Ben Fox for the clubhouse lead in the second round of the ICTSI Philippine Open Friday at the difficult East Course of Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

Aunzo fired a 2-under-par 70 after matching par the other day while Lascuna submitted a second-straight 71 to keep their title bids afloat in the $300,000 tournament – the second leg of the Asian Tour.

Joining Aunzo and Lascuna for the clubhouse lead is the 24-year-old Fox, a native of Los Angeles who shot even par 72.

One of the six leaders in the opening round, Fox, who started in the back nine, lost a shot and the early lead with a bogey on his last hole, the par-4 9th.

The three are 2-under 142 for the tournament that offers $47,550 for the winner.

“I just played terrible, I happened to be up there but it didn’t feel like I played well,” said Fox, who was up there with the leaders with former PH Open champion Anthony Kang and Matthew Rosenfeld of the US, Japan’s Azuma Yano, Mardan Mamat of Singapore and Taiwan’s Lu Tze-Shyan.

“I was sloppy from tee to green, made some good up and downs in the middle of the round which was important and it kept me in it. Short game saved me, minus a couple of three putts. There’s a lot better in me on this course for sure,” said Fox.

Aside from Fox’s bogey at 9, he also bogeyed Nos. 2, 10 and 15, but made birdies on the sixth, 13th and 16th holes.

While Fox was dissatisfied with his performance, Lascuna was delighted.

“I’m very happy, my driving is OK and my putting is also good,” said Lascuna, whose best finish in the PH Open was third overall in 2002 when Canadian Rick Gibson bagged the title.

“I think I have a good chance of winning the event. It’s a great honor to win the PH Open. I’ll just have to remain focused, and enjoy the game. The important thing here in Wack Wack is the driving position and putting,” added Lascuna.

The local bet from Davao birdied hole Nos. 3, 5 and 14, while bogeyed the 12th and 18th where he missed the green and three-putted to end the round.

Aunzo, on the other hand, nailed three birdies on 3, 4 and 13, that more than made up for a bogey on 11th. It was an improvement from his opening round where he had more bogeys with four, than birdies with three as he finished at even-par.

Former two-time champion and local hero Frankie Minoza, as well as Mars Pucay, who were both at 2-under after Day 1, where 7-over and 2-over after second round for 5-over 149 and even-par 144 for the tournament, respectively.

Minoza’s round was marked by four bogeys and a pair of double-bogeys in the par-3 8 and par-4 11 with no birdie.

As for Pucay, he actually went 5-under for solo lead when he birdied three of the first four holes – 1, 2 and 4 – but bogeyed the par-5 5, triple-bogeyed the par-4 7 and then bogeyed anew the par-3 8. He also bogeyed the 15 but birdied the 17.