Tabuena is home winner of Philippine Open
Tarlac,
Philippines: Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines fired a
superb, six-under-par 66 to claim a stylish win at the Philippine Open
today for his first Asian Tour title.
The
21-year-old notched six birdies on his homeward nine to seal the deal
with a winning total of 14-under-par 202 in the US$300,000 Asian Tour
event which was reduced to 54 holes due to bad weather at the scheduled start of the tournament.
Scott
Barr of Australia missed out on winning his first Asian Tour title
following a 68 but his lone second place result ensured that he would
retain his Tour card for 2016 after jumping 15 spots to 49th
place on the Order of Merit.
India’s
Himmat Rai produced the round of the week at the Luisita Golf and
Country Club with a sparkling 63 to share third place with Chinnarat
Phadungsil (67) of Thailand on 204, two shots from the champion.
Joint best Europeans were England's Simon Griffiths and Irishman Niall Turner, who shared fifth place on 206.
Joint best Europeans were England's Simon Griffiths and Irishman Niall Turner, who shared fifth place on 206.
Lindsay Renolds of Canada, who held the lead in the opening two rounds, had a disappointing 73 to finish in tied 10th place in the final Asian Tour event in 2015.
Home
favourite Tabuena became the first Filipino to win his national open
since 2008 after making a charge at the turn, highlighted by three
straight birdies from the 12th hole.
“I’m
glad the Philippine Open is my first Asian Tour title,” said Tabuena.
“I’m really happy that my name will be on this prestigious trophy
alongside some of the legends in golf in Asia’s oldest national open.”
“I
gave myself a goal at the start of the day which was to shoot a 66 or
lower. There are a lot of birdie chances and people can make a move. I
was one-under after the turn and I thought I lost some ground.
I knew I needed to go out with all guns blazing,” he said.
The
victory was a huge relief for Tabuena who fell short of winning his
first Asian Tour title on numerous occasions, including in Taipei this
year where he was runner-up.
“You
have to take your defeats as a positive and remind yourself that it is
part of the process.
"It definitely made me a stronger golfer mentally. It helped a lot that I had already saved my Asian Tour card for 2016 earlier this year. I knew I was playing for the win.
"It definitely made me a stronger golfer mentally. It helped a lot that I had already saved my Asian Tour card for 2016 earlier this year. I knew I was playing for the win.
“I
played really well here before and I won on this course on the local
circuit. I’m without words really. I’m happy and glad with the victory,”
said Tabuena.
Barr retained his Asian Tour card for the 12th
straight season after finishing one-shot behind Tabuena. He was in a
good position to pip Tabuena to the title but let the chance slip when
he bogeyed
17 after finding water. A birdie on the last earned him his best result
since 2006.
“I
couldn’t hole any putts for 14 holes. Once I did, it was game on and I
holed my share. I did what I needed to do but it is a shame to finish
one short. This week is a huge positive. I set very low expectations
coming into the week but it is great that I’ve secured my card,” he
said.
Rai,
who lost in a play-off two weeks ago in Vietnam, continued his good run
of form by returning a flawless card to finish tied third.
“I
didn’t have a number in my mind. I was thinking of eliminating my errors of rounds one and two. I wanted to play percentage golf and hitting it
near the hole. I putted aggressively and that made a difference
today,” said Rai, a one-time Asian Tour winner.
Chinnarat was delighted to hold on to his Asian Tour card. He was ranked 62nd on the Order of Merit at the start of the week but moved to 56th place, thanks to his result at the Philippine
Open. The top-63 players on the final Order of Merit secured playing rights on the 2016 season.
“It
was an exciting week! There was so much pressure,” he laughed. After 13
holes I knew I had a chance to win but the putts didn’t drop. It is okay
because my goal was to make the cut and get my Asian Tour
card but this result will give me a better ranking on the Order of
Merit!”
Other players who safely retained their Asian Tour cards included Unho Park of Australia (63rd), Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand (62nd), Adam Groom of Australia (61st) and Lu Wei-chih
of Chinese Taipei (60th).
There was heart break for 16-year-old Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand, who ended the season in 64th place on the Merit rankings.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72) Yardage 7,042
Tournament reduced to three rounds because of bad weather
202 Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 67-69-66.
203 Scott BARR (AUS) 69-66-68.
204 Himmat RAI (IND) 71-70-63, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 67-70-67.
206 -
Seukhyun BAEK (SKOR) 69-71-66, Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG) 70-68-68, Jeunghun
WANG (SKOR) 67-70-69, Niall TURNER (IRL) 69-68-69, Keith HORNE (RSA)
69-68-69.
207 -
LU Wei-chih (TPE) 70-70-67, Charlie WI (SKOR) 70-69-68, Khalin JOSHI
(IND) 70-67-70, Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 67-69-71, Kalle SAMOOJA (FIN)
69-67-71, Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 66-68-73.
208 Charles HONG (PHI) 71-68-69, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 68-71-69.
209 Brett MUNSON (USA) 70-69-70, Adam GROOM (AUS) 70-69-70, Janne KASKE
(FIN) 71-68-70, Tirawat KAEWSIRIBANDIT (THA) 68-70-71, Antonio LASCUNA
(PHI) 72-72-65.
210 Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 71-70-69, Taewoo KIM (SKOR) 70-71-69, Namchok
TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 72-68-70, Juvic PAGUNSAN (PHI) 68-71-71.
TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
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