MHARK FERNANDO

Reigning national champion Mhark Fernando held his own against the region’s top players as he fired a five-under par 67 to trail Chinese Han Ren by three strokes at the start of the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship in Southern China late Thursday.

Fernando rattled off six birdies in an 11-hole stretch at the Mission Hills Golf Club’s World Cup course, including a three-birdie string from No. 6 that put himself in early contention for the title, which counts an invitation to the 2010 US Masters and a spot in International Final Qualifying for the British Open Championship at St. Andrews.

Fernando could’ve closed to within two off the Chinese ace but bogeyed the par-4 17th and settled for third behind Han Chang-won of Korea with a 33-34 round.

US-based Judson Eustaquio, who fell short of his bid to join the SEA Games-bound national team last week, also made a good impression, firing a four-under 68 on a five-birdie, one-bogey effort for a share of fourth with New Zealand’s Jordan Sherratt.

Eustaquio came out smoking with back-to-back birdies and picked up another stroke on the par-5 No. 6 to spark hopes for an explosive campaign by the power-hitting Filipino. A bogey on the par-5 11th, however, slowed him down but he fought back with birdies on Nos. 12 and 15 to cap his solid round.

Antonio Asistio, the top ICTSI golf team bet who with Fernando will spearhead the country’s campaign in the Laos SEAG next month, actually came through with two eagles and two birdies but stumbled with three bogeys for a 35-34 round. He stood in joint sixth.