Tabuena slips to two shots behind home bet

Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines. –Paul Lakatos/ Asian Tour

Miguel Tabuena had a costly double bogey in a three-under-par 67 Friday that made the Filipino star yield the lead to hometown bet Taichi Kho, the Asian Tour rookie to assembled a flawless 63 for a two-shot lead in the World City Championship at Hong Kong Golf Club.

“I was proud of the way I fought,” the 28-year-old Tabuena told the Asian Tour website after his round that also had a bogey and six birdies for 130 overall after 36 holes. “I didn’t get off to a good start … but told myself there [are] a lot of holes left. There’s two more days left, you know, no need to panic.”

Tabuena is shooting to win a second straight event in as many weeks after thumping a talented field in India in The DGC Open.

“There’s no need to be worried,” Tabuena went on. “You know you’ve been playing well and just got to keep patient and just trot along.”

Kho, meanwhile, is seeking to win for the first time as a pro after coming out of Q-School in January.

“Just a really great round of golf and I putted really well today,” said Kho, whose father is from Hong Kong and [whose] mother [is] Japanese. “Like I said yesterday, I’m just gonna go out there and try my best on every shot and that’s exactly what I did. And I was able to roll a few putts in … so very happy with the day.”

Michael Hendry of New Zealand fired a 64 to be four behind, with Scott Hend, the Aussie veteran, shooting a 71 to be eight behind from three-down at the start of the day.