Needing a solid finish to seal his claim on the Asian Tour Order of Merit crown, Pagunsan stayed on course with a three-birdie, one-bogey stint at the par-70 Hong Kong Golf Club as he joined seven others in eighth place four strokes off McIlroy.
The Irish played true to form and fired a bogey-free six-under 64 to forge a three-way tie for the lead with compatriot David Horsey and Spain’s Alex Quiros, one shot ahead of another Spaniard Miguel Jimenez and two up on Garesh Maybin, also of Ireland, and Darren Beck of Australia.
Pagunsan, who leads SSP Chowrasia of India by over $290,000 in the OOM race, birdied No. 2 but missed a couple of birdie chances in the next seven holes before dropping a stroke on No. 10.
He, however, rebounded with birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 to put himself in early contention in the $2.75 million event serving as the penultimate leg of this year’s Asian Tour.
Harrington shot three birdies but fumbled with the same number of bogeys and settled for 70 and a share of 29th while Wiratchant fared a bit better with a 69, rebounding from a bogey-bogey mishap on No. 8 with a birdie on No. 11 and an eagle on the par-5 12th.
Meantime, Mars Pucay and Tony Lascuna each carded a 72 for joint 55th but need to shoot a lower round today to make it to the weekend play.
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