Tabuena sizzles with record 62

Miguel Tabuena. Inquirer Golf

TALK about being in-form.

Miguel Tabuena sustained the sharp game he has been brandishing of late by shooting a career-best 10-under-par 62 Wednesday to grab a six-stroke lead over Jay Bayron after the first round of the ICTSI Anvaya Cove Invitational in Morong, Bataan.

The 21-year-old, the reigning Philippine Open champion, gunned down an eagle and nine birdies and turned the well-manicured, seaside layout upside down with nines of 31-31 as he left everyone biting the dust of the best round of his life.

“It was a really fantastic game, the best round of my career,” Tabuena, who is coming off a joint fourth place finish in the rich Singapore Open two weeks ago, said. “Hopefully, I sustain this form the rest of the tournament.”

Bayron closed out with a bogey 5 for a 68 to be two ahead of American John Jackson even as defending champion Angelo Que, whose course record 64 scored in the final round last year was erased by the Tabuena effort, shot a 76 to be 14 back.

The young layout bared its teeth on the talented field and yielded just 10 sub-par rounds, with Antonio Lascuña bunched in a huge group that scored 71s as they all need to make up a lot of ground starting today just to entertain thoughts of catching Tabuena in the weekend.

Tabuena birdied the first four holes and was already at six-under after two more from the seventh. He dropped his only shot on the par-5 ninth but quickly picked up the pace again with birdies on Nos. 10 and 11.

The eagle came on the par-5 15th when he landed a 3-wood from 260 yards within 15 feet of the hole, before draining his last bird on the par-3 16th that made it look like he was playing another course compared to the others that struggled.

Japan’s Toru Nakajima also scored a 71 like Charles Hong, Clyde Mondilla, Mars Pucay, John Kier Abdon and former Philippine Open runner-up, Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk.

Americans Dylan Jackson and Christopher Oetinger fired 72s like Gerald Rosales, Ryan Lam and South Korea’s Jun Min-seok.

The event is the kick-off leg of the 15-stage Philippine Golf Tour season and is one of the richest for the year with a total purse of P3.5 million.

Frankie Miñoza shot a 73 and Cassius Casas a 74 and were the two other notables that struggled like Que, who blamed his poor round for having to wake up at 3 a.m. to drive to the golf course for his 7:55 a.m. flight.

“My game is OK, but I got a little sleepy,” said Que, the 2008 PH Open champion. Musong R. Castillo