Tony Lascuña beams as he holds his trophy after completing a come-from-behind win in the ICTSI Wack Wack Championship.

Given the chance the shine, multi-titled Tony Lascuña seized the moment to secure his first Philippine Golf Tour Asia crown after three mediocre finishes in the region’s newest circuit.

But it took a lot of patience and hard work coupled with his rivals’ final round meltdown to end what had appeared to be a long quest for the PGTA title for a player who had lorded it over the field in the 2015-16 seasons of the local tour.

“It’s nice to win again. But I had to work hard to put myself back into contention,” said Lascuña after completing his come-from-behind victory in the ICTSI Wack Wack Championship yesterday.

It was Lascuña’s first PGTA win after placing ninth in Aboitiz Invitational at Southwoods, a 12th place finish at Splendido and a decent fifth place effort at Riviera.

And he pulled through with a near-impeccable closing two-under 70, foiling American Nicolas Paez by two as erstwhile joint leaders Zanieboy Gialon, Thai Pasavee Lertvilai and Justin Quiban crumbled in a pressure-packed finale at Wack Wack’s East course.

Lascuña, who missed forcing a four-way tie for the lead with a final-hole bogey in the third round, surged ahead with back-to-back birdies from No. 2 in second-to-last flight then held sway to the finish, banging in a clutch birdie putt on No. 14 then rattling off a slew of gutsy pars to match the rallying Paez’s two-under card.

Tony Lascuña raises his arms in triumph after nailing his first PGT Asia crown in the ICTSI Wack Wack Championship.

He wound up with a two-under 286 and pocketed the top $17,500 purse, keeping the Filipinos’ domination of the first four legs of the inaugural Philippine Golf Tour Asia put up by ICTSI after Miguel Tabuena (Southwoods), Rene Menor (Splendido) and Clyde Mondilla (Riviera).

After falling behind by five to Gialon halfway through the $100,000 event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., the amiable Davaoeno shotmaker rushed back to the range and got his driving and iron play back in the groove.

“I also polished my putting stroke, medyo magalaw kasi. And when I pulled to within one after the third round, I knew I had a chance,” added the multi-titled veteran campaigner, who bounced back from a missed green bogey on No. 12 with a birdie from six feet on No. 14.

As Gialon, Lertvilai and Quiban all broke down in their hunt for birdies and pars in the featured flight and tumbled down the leaderboard, Paez took the challenger’s role but ran out of holes after stringing three straight birdies from No. 15. He settled for second with an even 288 and snatched the $11,500 runner-up prize.

Gialon, who went 3-up over Quiban after 36 holes, stayed on top with a birdie on No. 2 but slipped with three straight bogeys from No. 5 and faded after yielding another stroke on the 15th while missing a couple of birdie chances. He limped with a 75, the same output put in by Lertvilai, who failed to check a roller-coaster round marked by three birdies but marred by four bogeys and a double bogey.

Unheralded Rolando Marabe Jr. birdied three of the last six holes to save a 72 and tie Gialon and Lertvilai at 290. Each received $5,666.

Worse was Quiban, who never recovered from a bogey-bogey start and closed out the backside with four bogeys for a 77. He tumbled to joint sixth at 292 with Michael Bibat and Jobim Carlos, who carded identical 72s.

Jhonnel Ababa fired a 71 to finish ninth at 293 while Jelbert Gamolo turned in a 74, Aussie Marcus Both made a 76 and James Lam stumbled with a 77 for a share of 10th at 295 in the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc.

While the erstwhile joint leaders succumbed to final round pressure, Lascuña showed poise and class in putting up a strong start then went for conservative play on one of the country’s toughest courses after wresting control to finally nail the PGTA title after three failed bids.

It was also the former many-time PGT Order of Merit winner’s third championship this year, including the Manila Masters at Eastridge last April and the Forest Hills Championship last June.

He shoots for another two weeks from now when action in the region’s newest circuit shifts to Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac for the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Open.