Quiban makes PGA event, gets to live dream

Justin Quiban celebrates making the 3M event. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Justin Quiban will forever cherish his PGA TOUR debut at this week’s 3M Open, no matter where he finishes on the leaderboard.

The little-known Filipino earned his place at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota by finishing third in Monday Qualifying following a superb eight-under-par 63 highlighted by an inward 29.

He now gets the dream opportunity to rub shoulders with many of the game’s greats, including reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, who finished tied third at The Open on Sunday, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler and defending champion, Michael Thompson.

“My heart was going so fast. The last few holes, I just did my breathing,” said a delighted Quiban.

He first needed to survive prequalifying, where he carded a 68 to secure one of 20 spots available for Monday. Then, his game clicked on his homeward stretch which included a hole out for eagle on the 10th which sparked his run.

“My driver was just going really well, I was hitting it down the fairway most of the time. I almost holed out on nine from 80 yards and then I holed out on 10 from 80 yards and shot 29 on the back nine. I knew I had to go low,” said Quiban, who holds two victories on the Philippine Golf Tour and represented his country as an amateur in the Asian Games.

Quiban currently ranks 1,665th on the Official World Golf Ranking, with a best finish in any tournament with OWGR points available being a tied fifth result at the 2017 Resorts World Manila Masters. He finished tied for 16th place at the California State Open.

His success at Monday Qualifying, where he came in behind medalist Stephen Stallings Jr. (61) and Tom Lovelady (62), is bound to create some excitement back home.

“I think my parents are still asleep in the Philippines. I don’t know if they know about the good news. Most of my friends know about it as I posted it on Instagram.” he said.

One of Quiban’s recent posts ended with the message: “I dream. I grind. I flex.”

He gets to live his dream starting on Thursday.