MANILA, Philippines — Miguel Tabuena birdied five of his last six holes to shoot a week-best 8-under-par 64 Thursday and wrest a one-stroke lead over Elmer Salvador after the third round of the P3.5 million ICTSI Manila Masters at Eastridge in Binangonan, Rizal.
The prodigious 19-year-old Tabuena picked up three straight shots from the 13th then went birdie-birdie in the last two for a back nine 31 and a 204 aggregate that carried him to the top from five down overnight.
Tabuena had three birdies on the front nine, all from chip-in efforts, as he flashed flawless form on a day when only 11 out of the surviving 40 players cracked par despite the lift-clean-place rule for the round because of overnight rains.
He made the turn at 33 before catching fire in the homestretch to take great momentum into today’s final round and be in position to snap a long spell dating back to the Sherwood leg last year.
“I just got into the right spots the whole round,” Tabuena said of his scorching round. “I just wanted to put myself in position (to win) in the final round.”
Salvador, the former Philippine Open champion, didn’t do too bad with a 69 but still found himself trailing, his round marred by three bogeys in a five-hole stretch bridging the two nines for a 205.
Casas, the two-day leader, also finished birdie-birdie and rescued a level 72 that kept him in the mix, three behind the leader and with a lot of catching up to do in today’s final 18 holes.
Antonio Lascuña, the two-time Order of Merit winner who played the first two days with a slight fever, practically bowed out of it all with a 74, now eight down from just three behind Casas at the start of the round.
“I still have a good chance at it,” the soft-spoken Salvador, the 2009 Philippine Open champion, said in Filipino. “I will just play it one hole at a time and see what happens.”
Reedy veteran Benjie Magada fired a 69 and was six shots off the pace, with cousins Anthony Fernando and Mark Fernando joining Lascuña at 212 after shooting a 71 and 75, respectively.