Manila, Philippines, July 30: Highly-rated Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines hopes his recent good run of form will spur him to greater heights when he takes aim at winning the ICTSI Mount Malarayat Classic which starts on Wednesday.
The US$60,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event will be played at the Mount Malarayat Golf & Country Club in Manila and will feature leading players from the Philippines as well as an international mix of players from over 20 countries.
Tabuena, who enjoyed a top-10 finish in Cebu last week, is determined to prove his worth again when he steps up to the tee this week.
“I’ve been playing solid the last few weeks. I hit above 15 greens last week for all four days and I did not miss a single fairway on the third day. I’m having a bit of trouble with the putter but I worked hard on it today. Hopefully it will pay off this week,” said the 18-year-old, who became the youngest Filipino to earn his Asian Tour card when he finished inside the top-40 at Qualifying School in 2011.
“The scores will be pretty low this week so you have to make a lot of birdies. I think putting well will be of great help on the course this week. Finishing top ten last week has definitely boosted my confidence. I have been playing very consistently and I will try to maintain that,” added Tabuena.
Tabuena’s challenge will be put to test against a talented field that includes proven ADT winners, Misuhiko Hashizume of Japan, Englishman Grant Jackson and James Bowen and Brian Locke of the United States.
Filipino veterans Frankie Minoza and Elmer Salvador, who successfully defended his title at the Aboitiz Invitational last week, will also feature in the event with local hopes Angelo Que, Tony Lascuna, Charles Hong, Mars Pucay and reigning ADT Order of Merit winner, Jay Bayron.
Having won multiple titles in Asia since the early 80s, Minoza has been highly regarded as one of Asia’s living legend.
After putting up a strong fight with an opening 68 at the Senior Open Championship in England last week, Minoza will now turn his attentions to the ICTSI Mount Malarayat Classic, which is the ninth leg on the ADT schedule.
Meanwhile, compatriot Salvador hopes to set another record by scoring back-to-back victories on the ADT, which is the feeder circuit to the premier Asian Tour.
No player has posted consecutive victories since the ADT was inaugurated in 2010.
“I’ll try my best but it won’t be easy. The whole field is after me,” said the Filipino, who is gunning for the winner’s prize purse of US$10,500.
Created along the lines of the European Challenge Tour and Web.com Tour in the United States, the ADT will reward the top-three players on the final Order of Merit with Asian Tour cards for the following year.
All ADT events also receive Official World Golf Ranking points, which will be used to determine the field for the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne in November and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Winners on the ADT will receive a minimum of six world ranking points while the top six players and ties will earn points based on a sliding scale.
