Que, Tabuena keep TCC lead
STA. ROSA CITY, Laguna—Angelo Que and Miguel Tabuena returned even-par 70s yesterday and stayed tied for the lead—two strokes up on two others—halfway through the rich The Country Club Invitational here.
Que and Tabuena both bounced back from lethargic front-nine efforts, and counting their opening-day 68s, showed the way with 138s, two shots clear of former champion Cassius Casas and Rufino Bayron.
Casas shot the day’s best of 68 while Bayron submitted a 71.
The 34-year-old Que, shooting to become the first man to win this event four times, opened with a birdie but played the next 11 holes at one-over after signing for a double bogey on the par-4 eighth.
“I still struggled with my shots today and got bailed out again by my putting,” he said.
Tabuena made the turn at 37 before picking up three shots in a four-hole stretch from No. 11. But he missed taking the solo lead with an uncharacteristic three-putt on the par-3 17th.
Jay Bayron and the fancied Juvic Pagunsan shot 72s and joined Japan Seniors Open champion Frankie Miñoza, the overnight co-leader who managed a 73, at 141, three strokes off the pace going into the weekend play of the country’s most lucrative all-Filipino event.
Casas, already the winner of the tournament’s inaugural staging, had three birdies against a lone bogey.
“I’m happy with the way I am playing because I have been putting time to get my game where I want it to be,” Casas said in Filipino.
A total of nine players are within six strokes off the lead, including former Philippine Open champion Elmer Salvador, who fired a 73 to be at 144 like Clyde Mondilla, in the tournament that rewards the champion a cool P1.5 million.
The leading scores:
138—A. Que 68-70, M. Tabuena 68-70; 140—C. Casas 72-68, R. Bayron 69-71; 141—J. Bayron 69-72, J. Pagunsan 69-72, F. Miñoza 68-73; 142—R. Pagunsan 71-71; 143—C. Santos-Ocampo 70-73; 144—E. Salvador 71-73, C. Mondilla 71-73; 145—M. Fernando 74-71, R. Sinfuego 73-72, A. Fernando 72-73, F. Aunzo 72-73, O. Sumcad 69-76; 146—D. Ardina (Am) 74-72, R. Garalde 74-72, M. Bibat 73-73, A. Lascuña 72-74
