I WOULD have written about Bingo Plus’ International Series golf ending on Sunday, Oct. 26, but for a trip that required me to fly out in the heat of a deadline.
As I write this, our very own Miguel Tabuena and Clyde Mondilla were leading an 11-man Filipino contingent standing their ground against some of the world’s top players in Round 1 of the US$2-million event (roughly P116 million).
Tabuena and Mondilla had three-under 69s at the tough Sta. Elena layout in Cabuyao, Laguna, to be five surmountable shots behind Sarit Suwannarut, the gritty campaigner from Thailand.
In shooting their contentious scores, Tabuena and Mondilla strung up three successive birdies — with Tabuena doing it on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 as he was never intimidated in his flight with Grand Slam winners Dustin Johnson of the US and Louis Oosthuisen of South Africa.
Tabuena even showed nerves of steel when disaster loomed at 18 after finding a greenside trap. But he superbly bunkered out to within inches and saved par — drawing silent praise from his marquee flight mates.
“It was nice to finish off that way,” said Tabuena, 31. “I’ve never been in that bunker in my life. I play there all the time. So, I’m pretty pleased with how I finished and I think it’s what I needed.”
As I said, I wrote this in advance while preparing for my flight to Tokyo to cover the Japan Mobility Show from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, with Round 2 still not on and with Tabuena again paired with Johnson (former world No. 1) and Oosthuisen.
Tabuena found solace in the fact that his 69 outshot Oosthuisen’s 71. Johnson, a Masters champion and a US Open titlist, showed the stuff he’s made of by firing a 67 to be three shots off Suwannarut.
Mondilla rescued his 69 with a blazing birdie-birdie-birdie finish, saying: “I needed to make adjustment on my putting in the back nine and it was good that it worked.”
Another Filipino hotshot, Justin Quiban, tattooed his round with two front-nine eagles in opening a 70, the same result by the veteran Angelo Que in a tie with the American Patrick Reed, the third Masters champ in a star-studded field.
Tabuena, a Lexus endorser, was simply the star on Day One, even outdriving the power-hitting Johnson on the first tee to earn lusty cheers.
I pray he’d do well up to the end — golf being as unpredictable as a lady’s mood.