Philippine Open golf: Quiban rises to joint fourth as Song pulls away

CARMONA, Cavite – Justin Quiban’s blistering third-round performance placed him in a strong position heading to the final 18 holes of the Philippine Open at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club here, but pacesetter Minhyuk Song widened his gap. 

Quiban, who entered the third round at joint-18th with a one-under mark at the end of the second round Friday, waxed hot on Saturday to rise to joint-fourth with Sarut Vongchaisit of Thailand. 

“I wouldn’t say it was easier [compared to the earlier rounds], but the wind was a little bit weaker [today]. Maybe softer conditions, but we had longer second shots in,” Quiban told reporters after his round. 

“That’s why we practice, right? So we can adapt to all the situations. And like I said, it’s just a part of the work, it’s not the same in the last two days,” he added. 

After serving up pars in the first six holes, Quiban had a bogey in the par-four seventh hole. 

From that point on, he hit four straight birdies in the eighth to the 12th holes. 

It looked like he was about to get his fifth in a row in the 12th hole, but his putt stopped on the cusp of the hole, settling for a par. 

But the birdie party continued. He sank birdies in the 13th and 14th holes, but a bogey in the 15th hole cooled him off. 

And with the final holes of the day, he tallied back-to-back pars for a total of 204 through three rounds. 

However, Korea’s Song showed no signs of slowing down. 

After a 10-under second round, he followed it up with a five-under 65 on Saturday. 

The sweet stroke of Song continued in the third round, and a bogey in the par-four 11th hole hardly put a dent on his performance. 

The Korean notched birdies in the second, seventh, eighth, 10th, 16th and 18th holes as he rose to a 195 through three rounds. 

“I had a good memory of playing yesterday’s 10-under, so I just tried to enjoy today,” Song told reporters through a translator. 

“I tried my best to shoot a 10-under today, follow up another 10-under, but happy with the result as far as now.” 

Right behind Song is Sarit Suwannarut, who is now at eight-under par. 

Korea’s Jeongwoo Ham is at third after tallying a seven-under par through three. 

Filipino golfer Sean Ramos is at joint-sixth with Minkyu Kim, Nopparat Panichphol, Kosuke Hamamoto, Jeunghun Wang and Sadom Kaewkwanjana, who all have five-under pars. 

After a four-over 74 in the first round and a three-under 67 in the second round, Ramos fired six birdies in the third round without a bogey. 

“Obviously, very happy for today’s game, especially with how I started the week, from the first day. I tweaked something on my swing and fortunately, it worked out. I will try to do a lot better than the first day,” he said. 

Lloyd Go was the only other Filipino to finish below par. He is now at joint 18th with a two-under 208. 

Carl Jano Corpus scored a one-under 69 on Saturday to rise to an even par at joint-32nd. Jeffren Lumbo (four-over par), Antonio Lascuna (seven-over par), Kristoffer Arevalo (10-over par) and Reymon Jaraula (11-over par) will see action in the finale Sunday.