Tabuena grabs lead with 68, sparks PH golfers to 2nd

GUANGZHOU—Teenager Miguel Tabuena swept into the individual lead with a 4-under-par 68 while powering the Philippines to second spot at the start of the golf competition of the Asian Games here Wednesday.

Validating his coach’s faith in him, the 16-year-old Tabuena knocked down five birdies against a lone bogey at the testy Dragon Lake Golf course to pull ahead by one stroke over South Koreans Kim Meen-whee and Lee Jae-hyeok and Sri Lanka’s Mithun Kaluthanthrige.

“I’m very happy with the way I played and I really hope I can keep this up,” said Tabuena. “It’s my first Asian Games and I get the lead in the first day, so it’s really good.”

Tabuena not only justified his coach Tommy Manotoc’s choice to pick him for the PH team starting in September’s Putra Cup.

He also raised the possibility of the country striking gold for the first time since 1986, when Ramon Brobio prevailed during the sport’s debut in the Seoul Asian Games.

Michael Bibat won the individual bronze in the 2006 Doha Asiad.

Jerson Balasabas backed up Tabuena with a 73 but a 78 by national champion Mark Fernando pulled the country down in team play, eight strokes behind the Koreans.

With the 69 of Kim and Lee and a 72 from Park Il-hwan, Korea totaled 210 against the Philippines’ 218 and Sri Lanka’s 223 under the four-to-play, three-to-count format.

Carlos Marcel Puyat, the fourth Filipino, failed to count with an 80.

As surprising as Tabuena’s surge to the top was the dismal start of the country’s female bets, who lay in sixth place, 15 strokes behind the pace-setting Chinese.

Mia Piccio carded a 78 and Chihiro Ikeda added a 79 for 157, as Dottie Ardina failed to count with an 82.

China, with Yang Jing firing a leading 69, showed the way with 142, two clear of South Korea and six up on Chinese-Taipei.

“We just made a statement today and I guess, opponents won’t overlook us from hereon,” said Manotoc, describing Tabuena as “a smart golfer who plays maturely.”

“I saw him in the jungolf circuit and I knew he had a great future,” Manotoc said.

Tabuena chipped in for birdie after missing the green on the par-3 third hole to spark his explosive round. He birdied the sixth and eighth for a 33 at the turn, added back-to-back birds on No. 10 and 11 before stumbling with a bogey on the 15th.

Manotoc said he was amazed at the way  Tabuena played on a course that was just too willing to punish with its tight fairways, sleek greens and tough pin placements.

“It actually played to my strengths because I’m a straight hitter, even if I really don’t hit it that long,” Tabuena said. “The plan was not to miss on the wrong side. I knew I couldn’t go for the pins always.”

Balasabas had three birdies against two bogeys on the front nine then took a double bogey on the par-5 11th that left him one over for the day.

“We’re out of our league in the team competition,” admitted Manotoc, whose Putra Cup team also finished second to Thailand, which is mired in seventh here on 226.