Tabuena cools off, stays 6 up

MORONG, Bataan, Philippines – Miguel Tabuena slowed down a bit after a red-hot 62 on opening day but still carded a two-under par 70 yesterday to stay six strokes ahead of Jay Bayron halfway through the P3.5 million ICTSI Anvaya Cove Invitational here.

Tabuena gunned down six birdies to offset a double-bogey and a pair of bogeys on a hot and windy day at the Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club to return to the clubhouse with a 12-under par 132 and keep his whopping six-shot lead intact.

Bayron, who opened with a 68, matched Tabuena’s second-round 70 for solo second at the halfway point of the kickoff leg of the 2016 ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Former Order of Merit winner Tony Lascuña and Japanese Toru Nakajima ran third at four-under 140 after firing the day’s best outputs of 69. Korean Park Min Yung, the third player to go three-under for the day, moved up to fifth at two-under 142.

The 21-year-old Tabuena has been on fire in the first two rounds of the International Container Terminal Services, Inc.-sponsored event that some of his rivals seem to only count on a miracle to stop his charge.

“Wala nang habol iyan; iba ang pinapalo ni Miguel ngayon (With the way he’s playing, there’s no way we can catch up or overtake him),” said Bayron.

“Hindi pa tapos iyan. May two days pa (There’s still two days to play so it’s not over yet),” said Tabuena, planning to play with the same risk and rewards attacking gameplan in the final two rounds. “Attack lang. If I can pull away, why not?”

Picking up from where he left off in Wednesday’s opener, Tabuena birdied five of his first six holes at the back to go 15-under overall.  

But he dropped two shots after a troubled drive led to a double-bogey on the par-4 No. 17 then took another bogey on No. 2. He quickly recovered with a birdie on No. 3 and parred the next five holes before dropping a stroke on the tough par-5 ninth for the second straight day.

“My target is to finish this tournament at 20-under, it’s an achievable one,” said Tabuena.

Dutch Guido Van der Valk, Charles Hong, and Clyde Mondilla scored identical 72s to occupy sixth to eighth spots with one-under 143s.  Mars Pucay (73), James Ryan Lam (72), and Omar Dungca (70) stood one shot adrift with even 144s.

Angelo Que, who rallied from six strokes down with a final round 64 and beat Lascuña by three here last year, appeared headed for a missed  cut after a disastrous opening 76 and a triple bogey-marred 41 yesterday. But the former three-time Asian Tour winner recovered a bit with a closing 34 and finished with a 75 for a seven-over 151, barely making it to the final 36 holes of the event backed by Adidas, TaylorMade, Pacsports Phils., Custom Clubmakers, KZG, Sharp and Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club.

The cut was at 152 with pro-am winner Mhark Fernando (76), Korean Park Jun Hyeok (73), Lyu Hyung Suk of Korea (74) Zanieboy Gialon (76), Arnold Villacencio (76), Aussie Nathan Park (77), Rico Depilo (77) and American Christopher Oetinger (80) all advancing.

Omar Dungca carded a 70 to tie James Ryan Lam (72) and Mars Pucay (73) at 144; Randy Garalde and Ramil Bisera matched par 72 for joint 12th with John Abdon, who groped for a 74, at 145, while John Jackson of the US and Korea Seok Jun Min pooled a 146 after a 74 and 76, respectively.

Among those who missed the cut were Danny Zarate and former Phl Open champion Robert Pactolerin.

Zarate, hobbled by poor putting, succumbed to 78 for 155 while Pactolerin limped with an 83 for a 161.