MANILA, Philippines – Miguel Tabuena is gearing up for a fierce early contest against Jeunghun Wang and Jaco Ahlers, determined to kick off with a strong performance and finish even stronger as he pursues a fourth Asian Tour title at the Yeangder TPC in New Taipei City, Taiwan, which fires off this Thursday.
Tabuena is laser-focused on clinching the $1-million title, having come tantalizingly close in the past. In 2014, he narrowly missed out, losing in a playoff to Prom Meesawat, and the following year, he fell just two shots behind winner Shaun Norris.
This season, however, Tabuena has been in fine form, with three Top 10 finishes propelling him to 17th place in the Asian Tour Order of Merit rankings.
Most recently, he delivered an impressive joint ninth-place finish at the Shinhan Donghae Open three weeks ago, capping off his campaign with a bogey-free round of 67.
Buoyed by that result, the ICTSI-backed Filipino ace aims to maintain momentum and ignite a fiery start in this star-studded field, which features some of the region’s top players and rising talents. He is grouped with Wang and Ahlers in a 7 a.m. tee-off on No. 10.
In another marquee grouping, current Asian Tour No. 1 John Catlin will square off against Nitithorn Thippong and Kevin Yuan at 7:10 a.m., also at the back nine.
Catlin is already a two-time winner this season, having captured the International Series Macau and the Saudi Open earlier in the year. The American is also coming off strong performances with a second-place finish at the IS Morocco and a third-place showing at the Malaysian Open.
Justin Quiban, the only other Filipino in the 150-player field, will also look to make his mark. He is set to tee off at 6:30 a.m. on No. 1, battling against Shahriffuddin Ariffin and Ajeetash Sandhu. All eyes are on the $200,000 top prize.
The 14th edition of the Yeangder TPC also serves as a precursor to two more high-stakes tournaments on the Asian Tour — next week’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters and the SJM Macao Open from October 10-13, both offering $1 million in prize money.
While the spotlight will be on Catlin, who honed his game on the Philippine Golf Tour Asia before the pandemic, several other contenders are expected to challenge for the crown, including Travis Smyth, Minkyu Kim, local favorite Lee Chie-Po, and defending champion Poom Saksansin.