Pinoys eye strong finish in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines — Angelo Que and Miguel Tabuena set out against a world class field that features two Major champions and a 10-time PGA Tour winner, wary but upbeat of their respective chances for a strong finish in the rich Singapore Open which gets going today at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course.

The Filipino aces had failed to get going in last week’s Hong Kong Open with Que missing salvaging a Top 10 finish with a double bogey on the final hole, ending up with a 70 for joint 18th while Tabuena tied for 22nd in the $1 million event won by Aussie Wade Ormsby.

While Tabuena drew an 8:40 a.m. flight with Japanese Hideto Tanihara and Panuphol Pittayarat of Thailand on No. 10, Que faces a tougher challenge in the afternoon session with the three-time Asian Tour winner set to start at 1:20 p.m., also at the backside of the long 7,397-yard layout with Americans Jarin Todd and Sihwan Kim.

2013 US Open titlist Justin Rose of England and 2016 British Open winner Henrik Stenson of Sweden and American Matt Kuchar, a 10-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 2012 Players Championship and 2013 WGC Match Play Championship, banner the elite field with the troika also forming part of the players who took the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Firming up the cast are defending champion and reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Jazz Janewattananond, Japanese Ryo Ishikawa, who won three tournaments in last year’s Japan PGA Tour, Thai Gunn Charoenkul, Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe, Malaysians Danny Chia, Ben Leong and Nicholas Fung;

India’s Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa, and Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan, Gregory Foo and top amateur James Leow, winner of the gold medal in the recent SEA Games at Luisita in Tarlac.

Veterans of the Philippine Golf Tour and PGT Asia are also in the fold, including Dutch Guido Van der Valk, David Gleeson of Australia, Swede Malcolm Kokocinski, Koreans Kim Joo Hyung and Micah Shin, and Americans John Catlin and Johannes Veerman.