Late meltdowns push Philippines out of Asiad medal contention
NAGOYA, Japan – The Philippines’ golf contingent all but bowed out of medal contention in the Asian Games following a disastrous third-round performance at the Kasugai Country Club, virtually ensuring the continuation of long medal droughts in both men’s and women’s play.
An agonizing "Moving Day" across the board left the Filipinos trailing far behind the pace setters, extending the country’s men’s golf gold medal drought to 40 years — last won by Ramon Brobio in the individual competition at the 1986 Seoul Games. The women’s squad also saw its campaign falter, falling well short of repeating the historic double-gold sweep accomplished in Jakarta in 2018, led by Yuka Saso and current team member Bianca Pagdanganan.
Rianne Malixi briefly raised hopes of keeping the Philippines in the individual bronze medal hunt after firing a two-under 33 on the front nine of the tough par-70 East course. However, the Duke University standout unraveled on the back nine, dropping shots with two bogeys against a birdie before holing out with a double-bogey on the 18th to finish with a one-over 71.
Malixi dropped into a share of sixth place at nine-under 207 alongside Hong Kong’s Wai Chung Ding (70) and defending champion Arphichaya Yubol of Thailand (66). Crucially, she trails third-running Ruoning Yin of China (66-199) by eight heavy strokes with only 18 holes remaining, leaving her needing an improbable final-round miracle to reach the podium.
At the top of the women's leaderboard, India’s Sharath Pranavi surged ahead with a 66 to reach 195, taking a three-shot lead over two-time leader Shannon Tan of Singapore, who stumbled to a 71 for a 198 total. Hong Kong’s Sophie Han (67-204) and Korea’s Yunseo Yang (74-205) occupy fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
The women’s team standings offered little relief for the Filipinas. With Pagdanganan, whose campaign is supported by ICTSI, struggling to a second 71 to sit tied for 15th at 212, and Pauline del Rosario failing to make the cut, the Philippines assembled a third-round 142. Their 54-hole total of 418 dropped them to seventh in the nine-team field — seven strokes behind third-place Hong Kong (411) and a distant 13 off leader China (405).
The men’s squad endured a similarly frustrating outing.
Justin delos Santos posted a 71 in tough scoring conditions, slipping to a tie for 12th in the individual standings at 206. Delos Santos sits seven shots off joint second-place holders Kasuki Higa of Japan and Wang Wei Hsuan of Chinese Taipei (199), who both stay within striking distance of frontrunner Tom Kim of Korea.
Meanwhile, Miguel Tabuena struggled to gain any momentum, turning in a one-over card to share 23rd place at 211. Carl Corpus skied to a 77, tumbling to joint 34th at 218 in the 38-player field.
In the men’s team division, the Philippines slipped to eighth overall after posting a 142 for a 416 total, 14 shots adrift of third place. Chinese Taipei charged into contention with a 133 to tie China (137) at 402, setting up a four-way battle for gold alongside leader Korea (400) and host Japan (401).
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