Tabuena opens Barbasol bid with late threesome

Miguel Tabuena 

Miguel Tabuena will be among the last players to tee off after the Filipino star was put on the final threesome on the 10th tee in the first round of the Barbasol Championship of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour in Nicholasville, Kentucky, starting on Thursday.

Most of the other players in the field will be done when Tabuena tees up with American Daniel Wetterich and Brian Davis of England at 2:22 pm on the 10th tee of the Keene Trace Golf Club.

Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, Tabuena will be playing just his sixth PGA Tour start. The 27-year-old Filipino ace saw action in his last PGA Tour stint at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2017, which was won by Justin Thomas.

There, Tabuena made the cut and tied for 64th. Previous to that, Tabuena tied for 45th in the no-cut CIMB Classic in Malaysia and tied for 68th at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China, both in 2016. He made his maiden PGA Tour stint at the Sony Open in January 2016 and then played in the US Open a few months later but missed the cut in both events.

The Barbasol outing offers Tabuena a chance to rejuvenate his international career that has been affected by his limited outings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A good performance will boost his world ranking currently at 1,806th after reaching as high as 108th in 2016, which was his breakout year.

Tabuena’s sponsorship profile includes local endorsements for ICTSI and Lexus and global deals with Callaway and BOSS.

The $3.7 million championship awards $666,000 and 300 FedEx Cup points to the winner.