Tabuena loses lead; Phl-Thai clash up

GUANGZHOUI – Korea’s teenage champion Kim Meen Whee conquered the Dragon Boat Lake golf course, a scenic up-and-down terrain at the foot of a mountain resort, picking up a five-under-par, eagle-aided 67 that gave him a six-shot lead over two-round leader Miguel Tabuena after three rounds of the Asian Games men’s golf competitions.

Tabuena, 16, whose previous rounds of 68-68, sparked hopes of a gold medal finish in individual play, saw his lead vanish as early as the second hole with a two-shot swing from Korean and finished the day with a 37-37 for a three-round score of 210.

Tabuena’s 74, Marcel Puyat’s 71 and Mark Fernando’s 73 gave the Philippine team a second best 653, which all but conceded the gold medal to Korea which was up by 29 with 206-624 from the 67 of Kim, 69 of Lee and 70 of Park Ilhwan.

The Philippines and Thailand were tied at 653 following the 65 of Jaichalad Attacharon, 72 of Sriptattranusorn and 75 of Saksansin Poom, making today’s final round a showdown between the two Southeast Asian Games rival for the silver medal.

Tabuena also found his position at second threatened by Jaichalad, who showed his putting touch over the undulating greens whose pin placements on the slopes took the wits off many a golfer.

“My golf today is horrible, it was poor course management, my putting was just terrible, I didn’t have a feel of the green,” said Tabuena. “Kaya pa. I’ll just work hard, play my best tomorrow.”

The Thai birdied the second, fourth, fifth and eighth holes and took the outward turn after an eagle in the ninth. Jaichalad had four more birdies before he gave up bogeys on the last two holes for a 31-36.

Still, national coach Tommy Manotoc remained hopeful of a silver medal finish for the Filipinos, especially since Puyat, a student of Leadbetter Academy and an incoming golf scholar at Stanford University, improved with a 71.

“The boys are doing fine, they will fight for at least a silver, which is already a big achievement,” said Manotoc.

In women’s play, the Filipinas remained at sixth with a 146-252 from the 70 of Chihiro Ikeda and 76 of Dottie Ardina.

They were 15 shots off Korea, which had 133 for the day for 418, which placed them way ahead of second-ranked China (432) and Japan (441).