Tabuena edges closer to crown with 69

MANILA, Philippines — Miguel Tabuena moved in the threshold of snapping a three-year title spell on the Asian Tour as he outduelled American Johannes Veerman and Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand in a virtual shootout to seize a two-stroke lead with a four-under 66 in the third round of the Queen’s Cup in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.

Tabuena recovered from an early bogey with a cluster of birdies then bested the Thai in their spirited hunt for birdies at the finish to emerge the solo leader at 17-under 194 after 54 holes of the $500,000 event.

The Thai settled for a 68 and fell by two at 196 while Veerman, who led in the first two days, failed to match Tabuena and Janewattananond’s fiery windup and slipped to third at 197 after a birdie-bogey round for an even par 70.

Over in Japan, Angelo Que blew a hot start with three straight bogeys from No. 7, ending up with a one-over 71 and slipping to joint 18th in the second round of the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup still paced by YE Yang but with Mikumu Horikawa and Hwang Jung-gon at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club.

Que had a pair of 36s for a 213, nine shots behind Horikawa (66), Hwang (67) and Yang (72), who all posted 204s.