Quiban seeks strong finish in Mercuries Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines – Justin Quiban hopes to ride on his joint 14th place finish in last week’s Yeangder TPC as he rejoins the Asian Tour big guns in the Mercuries Taiwan Masters firing off Thursday (Friday, Manila time) at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club.

Quiban bucked a so-so opening 73 at the Linkou International course with a second round 66 to make the cut then closed out with 69-70 to save a Top 15 finish, besting veterans Miguel Tabuena and Angelo Que, who limped to joint 67th.

While it was far below his career-best fifth place effort in the DGC Open in India last March, Quiban is pleased to see where his game going although there had been bumps along the way, including back-to-back missed cut stints in the Indonesian Open and the International Series Singapore last August.

But his last week’s performance should augur well for his Mercuries Taiwan campaign with Quiban launching his drive with Thai Pawin Ingkhapradit and local amateur Lee Jui-shen at 12:30 p.m. on No. 1 of the par-72 layout.

Tabuena and Que are also in the fold, each eager to recover from last week’s poor finish with the former drawing an early start at 7:45 a.m. with Taiwanese Chan Yih-shin and Thai Rattanon Wannasrichan, also at the frontside.

Que, on the other hand, will slug it out Englishman Jack Harrison and local bet Yeh Yu-chen at 7:40 a.m. on No. 10.

The $1 million event also serves as part of the Filipino trio’s buildup for the rich International Series Morocco, a $1.5 million event at the Royal Gulf Dar Es Salam, which serves as fifth tournament under the LIV golf program and the penultimate leg of this year’s Asian Tour on Nov. 3-6 where Ira Alido and James Ryan Lam are also entered.

The five Pinoys are also booked to play in the season-ending International Series Egypt on November 10-13 at the Madinaty Golf Club.