AFTER the conclusion of the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last week, Cebuano pro golfer Lloyd Jefferson “LJ” Go will head into 2023 as the second highest ranked homegrown Filipino in the World Golf Rankings, behind only Olympian Juvic Pagunsan.
Go will headline the country’s representation in the Asian Tour next season.
This reality was unfathomable earlier in the year when a hitch in his US Visa renewal application left him temporarily without a passport and paralyzed his chances to compete abroad. Go was on the brink of contemplating retirement from professional golf.
Go’s double major in finance and accounting from Seton Hall University had always loomed large in his future plans of helping his family’s businesses if golf was no longer good for him. “I told my parents that I already gave up and wanted to start working with them after the year,” he said.
Stuck in Cebu, the only tournament available for Go was the men’s club championship of his home course Cebu Country Club. As a touring professional playing against overmatched amateur club members, Go easily breezed through his matches to reach the final where he faced the 17-year-old junior golfer Jacob Cajita.
In the enthralling match that ensued, both protagonists put on a birdie shootout. Go trailed most of the way against his young rival but prevailed in the end, eking out a come-from-behind 2 and 1 win on the 35th hole.
That performance gave Go the courage to reconsider his retirement plans. The adrenaline rush of playing to a gallery of a hundred or so club members re-ignited his competitive spirit. His passport issues eventually got resolved and a spot opened up to play an ADT event in Indonesia.
“I only got in Indonesia because the field did not fill up,” he said. “I thought of it as a warm-up tournament for the Japan and Asian Tour qualifying schools at the end of the year which was what I was really eyeing.”
With almost half the year done, Go returned to international competition only on June 7, 2022, when he teed it up in the OB Golf Invitational. He finished third there to start the hottest stretch of golf he had ever played in his life. The following week, he led midway through the second round of the Indo Masters Golf Invitational.
These two performances gave him the right to play all the remaining ADT tournaments. And he capitalized.
In his next six starts, Go contended in every single event with finishes of ninth, second, second, sixth, third and seventh. This shot him up the Order of Merit rankings where he finally settled at seventh with total earnings of $42,575.90 (approximately P2.3 million) to clinch his Asian Tour card for 2023.
Go’s stellar play moved him ahead of fancied Filipinos Angelo Que and Miguel Tabuena in the Official World Golf Rankings. Even though Go played the less lucrative ADT, he earned more money than Que did in the Asian Tour. Go also validated his passing Tabuena in the rankings when he clinically dismantled the former Olympian in a decisive 3 & 2 victory during the quarterfinals of the ICTSI Villamor Match Play in the Philippine Golf Tour which earned him P120,000.
Apart from the ADT, Go also competed in three stroke play events in the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) finishing third, fifth, and ninth to bank a total of PHP 240,400. He played two one-day mini-tour events in Japan where he earned 750,000 yen, or roughly P312,000. All told, Go’s on-course earnings for 2022 add up to just a hair over P3 million.
Numbers-wise, Go’s results are staggering. In only 10 ADT starts, he amassed seven top 10’s; four top 3’s; 21 of 35 rounds in the 60’s; and nine of 10 tournaments finished under par. When including up Go’s starts in the PGT and Japan mini-tours, his total score is a mind-boggling 108 under par.
“Everything I’ve been working on the past three years just clicked,” said Go when pressed to explain his good form. “It was a combination of everything from luck to having the right team of people around and God’s will.”
The Asian Tour provides a window of new opportunities for Go. First, it increases his chances of representing the Philippines in the 2024 Olympics. Second, he may potentially face fields featuring golf superstars like Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, and Phil Mickelson because of the Asian Tour’s partnership with LIV Golf. Third, Go can even join those LIV Golf superstars if he tops the Order of Merit.
For his goals and expectations in the Asian Tour, he said: “I want to win. I’ve been so close many times this year. As long as I put myself in those situations a lot more next year then I can hopefully convert one of those into a win. I will cherish every opportunity I’ll be able to get.”
From starting the year with uncertainty about his golfing future, Go now enters 2023 brimming with optimism and enthusiasm to compete against the world’s best on a much bigger stage.